Remember The Alamo
by forensicsfan
Summary: Behind on continuing education credits, Ecklie sends Nick and Sara to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Science in San Antonio, Texas, just one week after Grissom returns from his sabbatical. GSR angst with a heavy dose of NSR.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, however, I do like to take them out and play with them from time to time.

**Author's Note:** So don't even ask how I know that the American Academy of Forensic Science has their annual meeting in San Antonio in a little over a week; just enjoy the story and see where it goes.

* * *

Sara's brow was furrowed and with the way her thoughts were swirling through her head she wasn't so sure that she wasn't mumbling under her breath in frustration. Grissom had been back less than a week and she'd just been informed by Ecklie that since she was behind on her continuing education credits, she was being sent by as a representative of the Las Vegas Crime Lab to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Science which was scheduled to take place in a little over a week in San Antonio, Texas. Not that she didn't find the prospect of attending a forensics conference thrilling in and of itself; it was just that she had spent the last four weeks trying to analyze where the hell her relationship with Grissom was in the midst of his sabbatical in which the only communication she'd had with him had come in the form of a cocoon that hadn't even been accompanied by a note. When Grissom _had_ returned, her feelings about the situation, which she had spent that entire time he was gone squashing down, had surged to the surface with such a force that she didn't know _what_ to say to him and so she'd done her best to avoid him. And because they hadn't talked and he didn't seem to have a clue that he'd screwed up, she really had no idea where she stood with him; leaving right now just seemed to be bad timing. 

The sound of footsteps coming into the locker room broke Sara out of her reverie and she glanced up to see Nick Stokes walking purposefully to his locker. Nick smiled at his coworker as he stowed his gear and began to get ready for shift, "Hey, Sara." He was sure that it was going to be another long shift; they all had been lately, but at least they had Grissom back finally and just in time when he considered the news that Ecklie had intercepted him with. The thought of it made him smile just a little bit wider.

"You seem happy," Sara could tell by Nick's demeanor that he was in an especially good mood, although she refrained from asking him if he'd gotten a new girlfriend even though the thought did cross her mind. She'd heard all of the guys teasing each other about 'getting lucky' when they came into work a little too happy and at the moment, Nick seemed to fit the description.

Nick glanced over at her, his smile now looking kind of smug and his tone seeming to match, "I'm going to San Antonio." Not only did he get to attend the AAFS annual meeting, it just so happened to be his home state, and while it wasn't in Dallas, it was close enough to feel like he was taking a trip home. And the fact that the lab was footing the bill certainly didn't hurt either. Yes, he was definitely in a good mood.

"So Ecklie intercepted you too?" The tone of Sara's voice lilted upwards as she tried to keep her disappointment about her current situation out of it and tried to force a smile.

Nick's observation skills kicked in as her facial expression registered in his mind, "You don't look very happy about it." He was a little surprised that she didn't seem more excited about it; Sara was a criminalist's criminalist. Of anyone he knew outside of Grissom, Sara would find going to a conference like this the equivalent of most people being offered a trip to the Super Bowl.

Sara hoped that her attempt to widen her smile came across as genuine, but she knew that if Nick had picked up on her lack of enthusiasm that forcing a smile probably wouldn't convince him. "It's not the conference; just the timing," she started to raise an eyebrow and ended up rolling her eyes instead, "and maybe just the way Ecklie informed me that I was attending." She left out the whole part about her relationship with Grissom and how she really didn't know what was happening with the quirky entomologist and how unsettled that left her feeling.

"Yeah, he didn't exactly make it sound like attendance was optional," Nick too had been told rather than asked about the conference. The caveat of it all was that he was behind on his continuing education credits, as was at least half of the nightshift CSIs and while he would have preferred choosing to go to make up those credits, he wasn't going to complain about the opportunity either. Ecklie was an ass at times so his somewhat abrasive delivery of the news didn't come off as being out of character.

"Have you looked at the brochure yet?" Sara hadn't even glanced at it after Ecklie had given her the packet, she reasoned that it didn't really matter, her registration had already been sent in by Ecklie's assistant and she would sign up for the seminars that she was interested in when she got there.

"I have," Nick smiled a bit conspiratorially, "the legendary Dr. Henry Lee will be there during an evening session." The man was in fact legendary; he was the modern day father of forensics and had even appeared on multiple episodes of the New Detectives, the Forensic Files, and the FBI Files. There were very few forensic scientists that were even in his league.

Sara seemed to visibly brighten that a man that she held in such high esteem professionally would be at the conference; she only hoped that she'd have the opportunity to meet him, "Wow." Clearly she was going to have to read the brochure and gear herself up for something that would probably be extremely rewarding despite Ecklie's barked order that she attend.

"You're going to love San Antonio; not only is it located in a fabulous state," Nick puffed his chest out a bit with pride about his home state of Texas, "but there's a lot to see very close to the convention center and I'm going to make it my personal mission to see that you have a good time." He smiled at her; the last month while Grissom had been gone, she'd seemed to withdraw a bit, and now that their boss was back, it seemed to be even more pronounced. Maybe in the atmosphere of another place she'd be able to let go of whatever seemed to be troubling her and be able to just live in the moment and get her mind off of a man that Nick was convinced was never going to do anything about the apparent feelings that he had for Sara.

"Oh, you are, are you?" Sara appreciated her friend Nick and despite her unsettled feelings about the chasm that had developed between her and Grissom over the last four weeks that she had no idea what to do about, she was somehow looking forward to the conference. Maybe a week away focusing on forensics and meeting new colleagues from around the country and taking Nick up on his offer to help her have a good time would be just what she needed to gain some clarity on things.

"Yes, I am." Nick had been looking forward to attending the conference when Ecklie had given him the news, and now that he knew that Sara was attending as well, it seemed to sweeten the deal. He was definitely going to make sure they both had a good time.

Warrick poked his head into the locker room with a single brow raised, "You two coming or are you going to stay in here all night and admire the construction of the lockers?" It was close to the start of shift and from what he'd heard from a few day shifters that were looking at pulling doubles, there was going to be plenty of crime in Las Vegas to go around tonight.

"Right behind you, bro." Nick smiled warmly at his coworker as he headed back out into the hallway. Warrick was really was more like a brother to him; especially after the ordeal he'd had being buried alive. This group he worked with had formed into a sort of family for him and he was sure that he'd do just about anything for them.

Sara gathered up her gear and followed Nick to the briefing. Somehow this little chat they'd had cheered her up a bit and the fatigue that she'd felt a short time before had somehow disappeared; and she was definitely looking forward to going to San Antonio.

**_TBC..._**


	2. Chapter 2

Sara glanced over at Nick and wondered how in the world he could sleep so easily at 35,000 feet. They were on their second leg of their flight to San Antonio, having made a connection in Phoenix and although she was probably just as tired as Nick since they'd left right after their shift had ended, she hadn't been able to sleep on either flight. Of course she had difficulty sleeping much of the time anyway, but perhaps this time her inability to let the gentle motion of the Boeing 737 lull her to sleep had more to do with the conversation that she'd finally had with Grissom.

* * *

"_I told you that I missed you, Sara." The expression on Grissom's face clearly showed that he didn't understand why Sara seemed to be so upset with him._

"_And you expected me to just hold onto that for four weeks with no phone call, no email, nothing." Sara was exasperated; she thought she'd finally found her soul mate in Gil Grissom, but his display of relational ineptness made her realize that perhaps she didn't really know him as well as she thought she did._

"_I sent the cocoon." Grissom knew that his words sounded lame even in his own ears; he'd written her a dozen letters; letters that he couldn't bring himself to send. Letters that would solidify a relationship that up to this point just was; neither one of them had made a formal commitment to the other and deep in his soul tangibly acknowledging this thing between them was far more serious to him than he could admit scared the living daylights out of him._

_Sara's voice was filled with sadness, "You couldn't even put a simple note in the box." She wanted him to be the man that she needed, but at this point he simply wasn't. She didn't know if she could handle another round of him expecting her to always be there regardless of how he treated her, whether it was intentional or not. It was time she realized that if she was going to be with Gil Grissom, this sort of behavior was what she should expect._

"_I didn't know what to say," Grissom's expression was pained; there was so much that he'd wanted to tell her but he couldn't bring himself to force the words out. There was always the fear in the back of his mind that if he gave himself fully to her that she would leave and he would be left a lonely broken hearted old man._

"_You could have said anything," but he hadn't, "saying you're going to miss me isn't enough," it surprised Sara that she was standing up for herself, "I'm not sure we can keep doing this." Her implication was clear that this secret relationship was not what she'd hoped it would be._

"_You don't want to be together?" Grissom felt a pang deep in his heart and he wondered if his deepest fear was already becoming a reality._

"_I don't know," Sara paused as she regarded him, "I care for you, I really do, but you aren't the only one in whatever this thing between us is." Her emotions were conflicted as she continued, "Four weeks of not hearing from you at all made me realize that you have no idea how you leaving like you did affected me; affects this." She gestured between them, her face somber. "You didn't even tell me that you were leaving; I had to hear it from Hodges." _

_Realization dawned in Grissom's eyes and he was at a loss for what to say to make it right. He fumbled with his words, "I'm sorry, Sara." He looked genuine, but he could tell by the clench of her jaw that it might be too little too late._

_Sara shook her head and tried to keep her composure and resolve as she continued, "I need a break, Grissom; I can't coexist in a one-sided romance like this. I don't think we should see each other outside of work for a while." _

* * *

They were making their final descent into the San Antonio area and Nick was finally beginning to rouse himself from sleep, most likely because of the change of air pressure in the cabin of the aircraft. He blinked his eyes open to see Sara's pensive expression and he let out a yawn and furrowed his brow slightly, "You get any sleep, Sar?" 

Sara glanced over and smirked at him as she took in his somewhat disheveled appearance, "No, I've never really been very good at sleeping on planes." She wasn't about to tell him the truth about how she'd broken up with Grissom shortly before they'd left for the airport; to do that she'd have to admit that she was seeing him in the first place and since it had been a secret, she saw no need to even go there right now.

"Well, you're gonna have to rest up when we get to the hotel darling because we're in Texas now and I promised to show you a good time." A grin stole over Nick's face and his twang was a bit more pronounced than normal as he regarded his friend; she'd carried this sadness around for too long and he wanted to at least help her to find her smile again.

Sara let out a soft chuckle belying the heaviness she felt inside. "We're not here just to play you know; we do have a week's worth of seminars to attend." She was glad now that she was here and that Nick was there too. He had always been a good friend; never judging her. He'd always accepted her for who she was and she appreciated it; if she had to attend a forensics conference with anyone from the lab, she was glad that it was him.

"And since I'm assuming that we're both taking the Criminalist track for the seminars, we have plenty of time in the evening to see a few things." He was determined that she wasn't going to get so engrossed in every available peripheral seminar and discussion group that she completely missed out on seeing the Alamo and taking in the River Walk. He had known her for nearly seven years now and while they'd been out plenty of times with Warrick, Greg and a few of the other lab techs, he'd never really gotten to spend this kind of time with just her. Sara intrigued him in a way that other women just didn't; maybe it was because there was so much about her that seemed to be a mystery, in any case, he was looking forward to getting to know more about her outside the confines of the lab and crime scenes.

"But I don't want to miss Dr. Lee's session," Ever since she'd heard that the legendary forensic scientist would be speaking at a special evening session, her excitement about attending the conference had tripled.

"Neither do I," He might intend to make sure that Sara had a good time, but he was every bit the science nerd when it came to forensics that Sara was; only he knew when it was time to leave work at work and go out and blow off a little steam. That work life balance was something that his coworker could stand to grasp a little bit better.

"Alright then, it's all settled." A soft smile spread across her face as the plane touched down and began to taxi towards the terminal.

Nick let out a soft chuckle and glanced over at her, "What do you say that after we get settled in at the hotel and you get a chance to grab a nap that we go see a little bit of what San Antonio has to offer?" The conference sessions didn't begin until the following morning and if he could get a little head start on getting Sara to relax a little then all the better.

"Yeah, I'd like that," She smiled warmly at him, and realized that no matter whether things with her and Grissom ever really worked out in the end that she had good friends like Nick that would be there for her without reservation and that she would find a way to get through it.


	3. Chapter 3

San Antonio was as unassuming as Vegas was pretentious; Sara was surprised at how many historically significant buildings there were and the understated elegance in place of glitz and glamour was refreshing as she and Nick arrived at the hotel. It didn't take long to get settled in her room and rather than immediately take a nap, Sara opted to take advantage of the deep soaker tub in the bathroom before sinking onto the king-sized bed and falling asleep for a few hours of rest. By the time she met up with Nick in the early evening, she was more than ready to see a little bit of the city.

Sara had never been to San Antonio before and it seemed that dinner at Boudros was the perfect introduction not only to the city, but to the Riverwalk as well. Sharing an order of tortilla chips and guacamole, she and Nick sipped mojitos as they waited for their entrées and watched through the window of the restaurant as people drifted past on the river in the flickering light of the early evening. She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time and she smiled as she leaned back in her chair.

Nick noticed her calm demeanor and he was glad that he'd remembered this place from a trip he'd taken a few years back with one of his sisters. The food was great, but the atmosphere was even better. This was just the sort of place he'd take a woman if he was trying to impress her without making it look like he was. And it was just the sort of place that was perfect for a relaxing evening before the week of seminars and lectures they had before them.

Sara set her mojito down and glanced over at Nick, "This place was a really good idea. I think if you hadn't insisted we go out and get something to eat I might be sitting in the hotel trying to read some of the pre-conference materials." He had once told her that she needed to get out more, and while she'd been dating Grissom, being with him had felt like she'd gotten out more. But she'd been in a funk for the last month and this was the first time she felt like she'd truly been able to let go of her frustration at the situation with Grissom and just relax.

Nick let out a knowing laugh, "That's our Sara, always the workaholic." They all really could be classified that way, but none of the rest of them had garnered the reputation of listening to police scanners in their off time the way she had. He missed spending time with her outside of work; it seemed the last few months she never seemed to have the time and he was glad that they'd both had the chance to go on this trip.

"I'm a _recovering_ workaholic," Sara smirked; she wasn't going to deny her workaholic tendencies, especially to a friend who knew her as well as Nick did. He had promised to show her a good time and she had a fleeting thought that made her wonder what he would do if this was a date instead of two friends on a business trip. She realized that it had been quite a while since she'd really talked with Nick and heard about what was going on in his life and she chided herself for being so caught up in her secret world with Grissom that she'd neglected one of her best friends.

"I'll make a note of that," Nick winked at her and took a sip of his mojito just as the waiter delivered their entrées. As he sized up his meal, he wasn't sure why he hadn't gone all out for the prime rib; he was a man that loved his beef, but somehow the fact that he was there with Sara had compelled him to order yellow fin tuna instead. In the back of his mind he was starting to wonder when her opinion of him mattered so much.

Sara's grilled vegetable enchilada was wonderful and as they ate they continued to talk and people watch. She almost didn't hear Nick's question until she was in mid-bite and then as it registered in her mind, she almost choked as she felt her heart leap to her throat. She finally managed to get her words out, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

If Nick noticed her inattentiveness, he didn't say anything, he simply repeated his question, "Warrick was saying he thought you were seeing someone or something," he wasn't sure that was the truth; Warrick's conclusion was based on an assumption as to why Sara never seemed to have time to have breakfast with them or why she didn't just show up the way she used to when they had movie night. She had never come out and said she was seeing someone, but there were subtle suggestions that it was a possibility.

"Uh, no, I'm not," She certainly hoped she didn't have the deer in the headlight look on her face that she was feeling in her gut just then. Her secret with Grissom was the last thing she wanted to talk about. "Not any more anyway," The upward lilt in her voice sounded sort of bereft and it implied that she really didn't want to talk about whoever he was.

Nick's expression softened, "You dump him?" He didn't want to assume that some guy had dumped _her_; any guy that would do that was a pure idiot as far as he was concerned. He knew that she had a breaking point and whoever it was that she'd been seeing must have really messed up and hurt her for her to be looking as sad as she'd been the last few weeks.

"Something like that," Sara offered him a smile. It was true; she had technically dumped Grissom even though she had wondered over and over if she'd made the right decision. At the very least she had needed the break to think things through and see what it was she really wanted.

"Definitely his loss then," Nick winked again and lifted his mojito in toast.

Sara tried to shift the focus on her floundering love life, "What about you; have you been seeing anyone lately?" There was a time when it seemed he was always seeing somebody new, but he seemed to have lost a bit of his happy-go-lucky demeanor over the last couple of years; especially since his kidnapping and it had been a while since she'd overheard him chatting up someone special on the phone in some corner of the lab.

Nick's brow furrowed just a tad as he shook his head, "Not in a while." There had been someone a few months back he'd thought might have potential, but it seemed that every time he got to a point in a relationship with someone where his kidnapping came up in conversation it seemed to freak them out and things always seemed to fizzle out. That was ok, he was feeling lately like maybe there was more to life than finding someone special and settling down. The hell that he'd lived through was a testimony to that; just waking up and being alive seemed like a blessing to him most days.

Sara smirked at him mischievously, "You really should get out more." She knew that he'd pick right up on what she was saying and she wasn't disappointed when he belted out a laugh.

"That's like the pot calling the kettle black," Nick smirked back still chuckling a little. He glanced out the window and an idea formed in his mind as he turned his attention back toward Sara, "What do you say we _both_ get out a little and take in a little river cruise after dinner?" He suddenly felt nervous that she'd say no and it occurred to him that he was beginning to wish that maybe this was more than two friends having dinner.

Sara felt the corners of her mouth twitch up into a smile as she swallowed a bite of her enchilada, "That sounds great actually." She hardly wanted to admit it to herself, but she was having too good of a time to want to go back to the hotel just yet. A river cruise sounded perfect; a nice night, a wonderful friend and a feeling that maybe this really would be a week she'd look back on and remember the Alamo.

_**TBC...**_


	4. Chapter 4

What had started out as dinner between two colleagues on a business trip had somehow begun to feel much more like they were dancing on the edge of being on a date and as they left the restaurant and headed towards where the tour boats were, Sara threaded her arm through Nick's and smiled when he glanced over at her, "You know, you didn't have to pay for dinner." Before he could utter the protest that Sara knew was coming, she smirked, "But thank you; that was nice."

Nick flashed her a mega-watt grin, "You are very welcome." He wasn't going to point out to her that all of their meals were going on expense reports for reimbursement because he would have bought her dinner even if it was coming straight out of his own pocket.

They walked arm in arm in amiable silence for a while along the river front, passing by several lively bars and a couple of horse-drawn carriages trotting by with couples in tow. And it wasn't too long before they arrived at the departure point for the tour boat. It seemed that many people who were in town for the forensics conference had the same idea as Nick and Sara and the boat quickly filled up; something Nick saw as being an opportunity to casually sling his arm around the back of Sara's seat and the way she subtly leaned into him, he didn't think she seemed to mind at all.

Sara was a little surprised at the flip in her stomach at the turn of events; she had spent so much time over the last several years trying to get Grissom to admit his feelings for her that she had been blissfully unaware of the potential that lay in the man sitting next to her; the man that had become a very good friend and for some reason now that they were here in San Antonio, was beginning to stir feelings in her that hadn't realized were there. The feel of Nick's arm around the back of her seat was distinctly masculine and although she would never see herself as a damsel in distress in need of some knight in shining armor to whisk her away, she was a modern self-sufficient woman after all, there was a certain amount of security that it provided and she couldn't help but smile.

Nick wasn't really listening to the operator of the boat talking about the history of San Antonio and the different sites they were seeing along the river. He was, however, very aware of just how soft Sara's hair looked and how in the evening light he found himself being more attracted to her than he'd ever allowed himself to admit. He resisted the urge to tangle his fingers in the soft curls cascading onto her shoulders, especially when she glanced over at him and looked at him a bit quizzically. The words were out of his mouth before he could process them through his mind, "I like it when you wear your hair curly."

Sara felt a faint blush creeping up her cheeks as she felt him reach up and finger one of the curls for emphasis, "Thank you." Yes, this evening was definitely taking on an entirely different tone than it had started out with and she found herself thinking that maybe she should just see where it might lead.

Nick's mouth it seemed had a mind of its own, "You look really pretty tonight, Sara." The truth was he thought she looked pretty all the time, but somehow in this setting he'd managed to garner an extra measure of courage to actually tell her.

"Thank you," Sara didn't feel especially awkward, although from the nerves swirling in her stomach she thought maybe she ought to. She studied Nick for a moment and as it registered in her mind that there was a look in his eyes that might best be described as a smoky lust she felt a swell of courage. "You look pretty handsome yourself."

Nick was beginning to feel slightly intoxicated at the idea that Sara might just be feeling a little bit of what he was feeling and he couldn't help but smile at her. His eyes drifted to her lips and then he had to remind himself that the tour boat was full and if he was going to kiss her, he most certainly didn't want to do it here with an audience. Nick let his arm drift off of her seat and settle around her shoulders as his drawl came out a little thicker than normal, "Thank you, darlin'."

The term of endearment wasn't lost on Sara and she found herself leaning into him a little more wondering if Texas was bringing this out in him or if it was really she that was having the effect on him. In either case, she felt his fingers softly brushing against her arm and a flipping sensation deep in her stomach; somewhere during the evening they had crossed a line and she couldn't seem to place when. Stranger still, she was a willing participant in crossing that line; just a few days ago, it had never entered her mind that she might be sitting here like this with Nick hoping that he might kiss her. Where had the confusion she'd been feeling over Grissom gone?

It seemed that the tour boat ride ended much more quickly than either one of them had anticipated and as they got up to debark, Nick instinctively reached for Sara's hand, taking note of the smile on her face as he did so. He was not really sure where all of this extra courage was coming from to make a move on his friend and now with that thought at the forefront of his mind he felt a surge of nerves that made him feel more like a sixteen year old taking out the prom queen on a date.

Sara was very cognizant of the fact that Nick was still holding onto her hand as they walked along the river, presumably in the direction of their hotel and she offered him a smile, "I've really had a good time this evening." He had promised to show her a good time and she was definitely having one; there was just a part of her though that wished that it wasn't ending so soon.

"I'm glad," He grinned at her, he had been formulating a plan in his mind as they'd been cruising along the river and now it seemed he might just have the opportunity to put it in motion. "But we're not really quite done yet." He hoped that she wouldn't put up a protest and claim that they both needed to get some sleep before the conference was in full swing tomorrow.

Sara couldn't hide her surprise, "Oh?" She hoped that he didn't intend to take her clubbing; in the back of her mind she wanted to be alone with him and sharing a crowded club with hundreds of other people dancing to the sound of blaring music was not really what she was envisioning.

Nick felt a momentary sinking feeling as his courage waned, but as he heard the clip-clop of horse hooves against the walkway, he felt a sudden rush of that courage again. "Have you ever been on a carriage ride?"

Sara's smile took over her expression revealing the gap in her front teeth, "Uh, no, I haven't." The idea of a carriage ride with Nick sounded perfectly wonderful and she fought a sudden urge to kiss him.

Nick's nerves flew away as he hailed the carriage and mumbled something to the driver about taking the scenic route to their hotel and paid him for an hour of his time. This time Nick made no excuse for putting his arm around Sara's shoulders as the gentle rhythm of hooves clopping lulled them into a feeling of privacy in the back of the carriage. There was a conspiratorial tone to Nick's voice, "You know I think Greg would be pretty jealous if he could see where I'm sitting right now."

Sara let out a soft laugh and then raised a single eyebrow at him, "I don't know, I mean Greg _has_ seen me naked." She wondered how quickly he would pick up on what she was talking about.

Nick's eyebrows shot up; he knew that Sanders had carried a torch for Sara for years, but he'd had no idea that it had ever gone any further than that. He fumbled over his words, "Uh, you and Greg?" He felt like an idiot for not picking up on some sort of relational shift between his coworkers; he was paid to be observant.

Sara snorted out a laugh and put her hand on his thigh as she realized he was serious and then shook her head, her voice coming out in a soft soothing whisper, "No, never me and Greg. It was a hazmat site, only we didn't know it until we'd been in there for a while." She could see the relief washing over his face and it was then that she realized that any doubt nagging at the back of her mind that maybe he was just playing her was nothing but her own insecurity rearing its ugly head; Nick had never been anything but genuine with her.

"Uh, good," Nick felt like his face was thirteen shades of red; of course it was a decontamination shower; Greg had made it a point to spread that little tidbit around the lab until Sara had caught wind of it and made him promise something on the order of removing his own manhood before she got the chance to if he continued.

"You're cute when you're jealous," Sara felt emboldened by the color in Nick's face and she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "You shouldn't be jealous." As she pulled away, she noticed a confidence in Nick's eyes that made her feel like her insides were melting.

"That's good, very good in fact." Nick's voice had a husky quality to it as he reached over and did something he'd wanted to do all night. He realized as he slipped his fingers into her curls and dipped his head to softly press his lips against hers in a tentative first kiss that by the way she eagerly responded to it, the real thing was far better than what he'd been imagining all evening.


	5. Chapter 5

Making out with Nick Stokes had certainly not been on Sara's agenda for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Science when she'd left Las Vegas. She had fully intended to spend the evening before the conference officially kicked off to read over the materials that she and Nick had taken with them to San Antonio. However, San Antonio seemed to have other ideas for Sara, and judging from the delighted smirk pasted on her face as she snuggled into her pillow in attempt to fall asleep, she didn't seem to mind the turn of events at all. Sara had been completely exhausted by the time she and Nick had returned to the hotel and despite a few subtle hints from Nick that he wouldn't mind at all if they kept the evening going, she'd said goodnight to him with a long kiss at her hotel room door.

There was a part of her that was very glad that things hadn't gone any further than that; despite the fact that she felt incredibly attracted to her handsome coworker, the evening had been thick with ambiance and she'd been completely caught up in it. If this was going to be something more than a date that hadn't really started out that way at all, she didn't want to ruin it by having a one-night stand with one of her best friends and confuse the hell out of it. Not that the thought hadn't crossed her mind more than a few times while they'd been making out in that carriage, but thinking about it and doing it were two completely different things and she'd just broken up with Grissom.

She let out a soft groan as she mulled that one over for a minute. Here she was entertaining thoughts about sleeping with Nick and she'd just broken up with a man that no one even knew that she had been dating. What did that make Nick? Was he just what one of her friends from college referred to as the rebound guy, or did she honestly have real feelings for him? Her analytical mind shifted into high gear as she tried to quantify that one. He was her friend, her very good, very attractive, very single friend and he had made it very evident that he was very attracted to her. But was her attraction to him situational or did it go further than that? Had she ever entertained thoughts like this back in Vegas?

A flurry of thoughts assaulted her mind and she had to stifle a laugh as she realized that she _had_ ogled Nick more times than she could count and they had shared a flirty banter almost since the day they'd met. Yes, she had definitely always found Nick attractive, but it didn't necessarily mean that it went any deeper than that; and what about his reputation? It was no secret that Nick liked the ladies; but was she just another woman of the moment or did his feelings go deeper than seizing an opportunity of two coworkers sharing a mutual attraction on a week-long business trip?

Her mind started spinning a million miles and hour and despite her best efforts to try and go to sleep, she lay there for a long time mulling over the evening and what it all meant before she finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Nick on the other hand was so keyed up that he hadn't even tried to go to sleep. His mind was firmly set on the brunette in the room next to his. He had thought about Sara in a more than friendly manner from time to time over the years and even Warrick had picked up on it and teased him about it. Yes, he was most definitely interested in Sara romantically and after kissing her, well, he was fairly certain that she was feeling the same way. He only hoped that he could concentrate enough on the conference the rest of the week that he wouldn't look like an idiot if anyone asked him about it when they got home. He flipped the TV on to ESPN to try and wind his mind down and focus on the results of the college basketball games. He ended up falling asleep on top of his bed fully clothed not too long after that with a satisfied smile on his face.

* * *

Sara woke to the sound of a soft tap on a door that she had first assumed was a closet when she'd settled herself in her room the day before; now however it was a little more obvious that it was a door connecting her room to the room next door; the room where Nick was staying. She smiled inwardly as she pulled herself out of bed and padded over to it and whispered at the sound of the knock, "Nick?" As much as she was fairly certain that it was Nick's room on the other side of that door, she was a crime scene investigator and she wanted to be sure before she invited a stranger into her room while she was still in her pajamas. 

"Yeah, it's me. Hey I think we have connecting rooms." The sound of his voice even muffled through the door had a clearly mischievous tone to it, "Can I come in?"

As Sara opened her door, she couldn't help but smile at him standing there looking quite rumpled, still dressed in the clothes that he'd worn on their evening out on the town. "Good morning." He looked good to her eyes first thing in the morning and she could tell from the way that he was looking at her that his thoughts were parallel with hers.

"Good morning to you." Nick's grin widened as he leaned against the doorframe and let his eyes take in Sara. He'd never really seen her in pajamas before and while her attire was decidedly modest, he thought she looked positively sexy.

Sara raised an eyebrow at him, her smile widening as she gestured towards the connecting doors, "So this trip is full of surprises." She had to admit, the connecting doors certainly _did_ add an interesting twist to things and it occurred to her that maybe they should have a little chat about what was transpiring between them before they found themselves between the sheets together before the end of the week only to look back and wonder how they got there.

"Well so far they're all good," Nick winked at her before he stepped close to her and cupped her cheek before ducking his head and softly kissing her. Yes, the way things had unfolded last night had certainly been a pleasant surprise and if things continued to go his way as the week went on he was going to be returning to Vegas a very happy man.

Before they'd finally broken apart, Sara had wound her arms around Nick's neck and had allowed him to deepen the kiss so that the one kiss had turned into several long ones. She unconsciously flicked her tongue out over her lips as she looked up into his eyes and her voice was a little husky. "Did I ever tell you last night that you're a fabulous kisser?"

Nick had a smug grin on his face, "I don't think you did, but then again I might have forgotten to tell you that you were pretty amazing yourself." He had been rather surprised at just how skillfully she'd kissed him back and where he'd expected maybe some hesitancy he'd been met with a little passion flower; something that had definitely helped to fuel his imagination about what it might be like if they ever got beyond kissing.

"Amazing, huh?" There was a certain spark in Sara's eye as she glanced at his lips for a fraction of a second before leaning in to kiss him. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but it seemed that she'd somehow developed a sudden addiction to kissing Nick Stokes.

As they pulled apart for the second time a few moments later, Nick couldn't hide the pride in the tone of his voice, "So you think I'm a fabulous kisser, huh?" He was quickly entertaining thoughts of skipping the first day of the conference entirely in favor of more closely investigating this newfound kissing phenomenon that was occurring between them.

Sara smirked at him as she leaned back and as if reading his thoughts, she quirked an eyebrow at him, "As much fun as this is, and trust me, I am having fun here, we have a conference we need to get ready for." The last thing she needed was to let herself get a little too carried away with all of this and miss the reason the Crime Lab had flown them out here for in the first place. And as much as she was thoroughly enjoying this thing unfolding between her and Nick, the science nerd in her was equally excited to attend the seminars the conference had to offer.


	6. Chapter 6

The beginning of the conference was everything that Sara had hoped that it would be; interesting sessions led by people who were recognized as some of the best in their particular field of forensic science and a few that were quickly up and coming. She found herself complete enraptured as she tried to carefully catalogue each new piece of information, thankful that the written summaries of each presentation would be available to all of the participants for future reference. After one session on the progress of the use of nanotechnology in revealing hidden fingerprints she was particularly energized and as she filed out at the end of the session to take advantage of the break and maybe catch a glimpse of Nick who had gone to a seminar on new methods and technologies in collection and preservation of blood evidence at crime scenes.

She'd gotten about halfway across the lobby when she heard a familiar voice, but it wasn't the slow easy drawl of her Texan counterpart. No this voice went back a little further than that and as she spun around in search of the source of the voice, her eyes honed in on someone that she hadn't seen in nearly seven years, "Carly?"

The petite Asian woman glanced up when she heard her name and when she recognized the tall willowy brunette a smile spread across her face revealing her picture perfect teeth, "Sara Sidle."

"I didn't even think about the fact that I might know someone here." Sara couldn't hide her pleasure at running into her former coworker from the San Francisco Crime Lab as she took the remaining few steps until she was standing next to her. "Are you the only one here?"

Carly shook her head; a sort of impish smile crossing her mouth as she answered Sara, "No, Pete and Ben are here too."

Sara's eyebrows shot up, "Ben?" She looked at Carly quizzically. "Ben the intern Ben?" It had obviously been some time since Sara had talked to any of her former coworkers.

Carly let out a laugh and nodded, "He's almost a lead CSI now, Sara." Her long hair swung elegantly as she appraised Sara, from the soft lines around her eyes she guessed that she still wasn't getting much more sleep than she did back in San Francisco, but there was something in her eyes that piqued her curiosity. She looked happy; a happy that she hadn't seen since Sara had gotten that call from Dr. Grissom to come to Las Vegas. This was definitely going to have to merit a meal somewhere in the week to try and catch up a little.

"Wow, I guess it has been a while hasn't it?" There was a hint of regret in Sara's tone implying that she had intended to keep in touch, but she'd gotten so caught up in her new life in Vegas that the last couple of years in particular she'd let things slide; it was easy to do when people weren't around everyday to remind you that they had been part of your life.

"I'm dayshift supervisor now," Carly let out a chuckle as she watched Sara's eyes widen.

"It really has been a while," Sara remembered when she and Carly had worked side by side; excited when they'd both made Level 2 in the same month. "Promotion opportunities don't come along very often in Vegas, but we certainly have our fair share of interesting cases." She had no regrets at all for leaving, and as for promotions, she reasoned that it would be a cold day in hell before Ecklie would consider her for the next key position. Not that it mattered; the last one, which Nick had been given in name only, had the funding pulled in favor of a new piece of lab equipment. Even with all that she had no regrets about where she was.

"So we should have dinner. I'm sure that Pete will be glad to see you." Carly had a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Oh?" Sara hadn't talked to Pete Miller since the day before she'd left San Francisco for Las Vegas. When she'd told him that she had been asked by Gil Grissom to go investigate a member of his team in Las Vegas, Pete's face had clouded and he'd not so subtly told her that he didn't think she would come back. And he'd been right, but it didn't make her feel any less guilty for walking away from a relationship that was just starting and had potential to turn into something really good if she could have been able to resist the pull of a certain quirky forensic entomologist.

"A lot has changed since you left." Carly had this look on her face that said that there was far more to the story than she was letting on.

"Well then we _should_ have dinner," Sara smiled genuinely; Pete Miller was ages ago and she was looking forward to spending a little time catching up with her former colleagues.

A certain smooth Texan drawl cut through the crowd and she felt his hand gently come to rest on her waist just before he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I was hoping that I was going to find you out here." The smile in his tone was evident.

Carly surmised the handsome brown-eyed man who had just come to stand at Sara's side and quirked an eyebrow as if she expected a little bit more information.

Sara felt her cheeks infuse with color and a smile came unbidden to her lips as she glanced over at Nick for a moment and then gestured towards Carly, "Nick, this is Carly Stewart, we worked together at the San Francisco Crime Lab."

"Nick Stokes," Nick reached out his free hand to greet Carly with a firm handshake, "Nice to meet you, Carly."

"Carly, Nick and I are colleagues," Sara's explanation came out sounding as if she was trying to define what she and Nick actually were and if she noticed, Carly didn't say anything about it.

"Nice to meet you Nick," Carly smiled at Nick, but the expression she shot Sara's direction clearly said 'so that's what they're calling it these days'.

"Uh, Carly and I were just talking about having dinner with a few of the people I used to work with." Sara glanced over at him, her eyes looking into his as she tried to read what he might be thinking.

"You'll have to join us, Nick," Carly's smile looked genuine, but it was evident to Sara that the gears of her mind were churning and quantifying to try and determine what the exact nature of Sara and Nick's relationship was and what had happened to Dr. Grissom in the midst of all of this? The last time she'd spoken to Sara on the phone a couple of years ago it sounded like she was in love with the man.

"Count on it," Nick was somewhat disappointed that he wouldn't be having dinner alone with Sara, but the prospect of getting to know a little bit more about her pre-Vegas was certainly appealing.

The fact that Nick's arm was still resting lazily around Sara's waist wasn't lost on Carly, nor on the two men who were approaching the trio with interest.

"Sara?" The distinct Bostonian accent of Pete Miller interrupted the trio as he came to stand next to Carly; surprise flickered across his face for a moment as his mind registered that she really was there.

"Hi, Pete," Sara tried to sound more casual than she felt and she found herself unconsciously leaning into Nick a little. Hearing Pete's voice reminded her of why they had gotten along so well and she felt a faint twinge at what might have been if she'd stuck around.


	7. Chapter 7

"So she kept spinning around with her forehead on this baseball bat and I thought I was gonna pee my pants from laughing so hard." Pete was laughing so hard recounting the story that he nearly had tears spilling down his cheeks as he tried to keep his hoots to a minimum.

"I was _trying_ to conduct a scientific observation; I was only halfway through when you walked in," Sara rolled her eyes at him and then let out a bit of a snicker as she glanced Nick's direction. "See, we're not the only lab full of strange people."

"Speak for yourself, Sar, some of us are as close to normal as you can get...in Vegas." Nick winked at her. He was thoroughly enjoying himself as he let out a chuckle of his own as everyone picked up on his little joke. The five of them had met up for dinner after the day's seminars were over and after eating dinner at a bar and grill near the Riverwalk, they'd lingered over drinks where they began reliving the glory days when Sara worked at the San Francisco Crime Lab.

Carly seemed to have drifted a little closer to Pete throughout the meal and now it seemed that the alcohol was making them more than a little cozy. "You know if you had stayed, Sara, you probably would have been running the lab by now." She had a great deal of respect for Sara; she'd never met anyone quite as driven about her career than her and she was still a little puzzled that she hadn't gotten any further than a level three CSI.

"I doubt that," Sara appreciated Carly's comment but she didn't think that her former colleague knew her as well as she thought she did. "Nick here beat me out for a promotion." She nudged him in the ribs to make her point.

"That was cut in favor of lab equipment," Nick raised an eyebrow at her; he wanted to make it perfectly clear that they were equals and he knew that she had been more than capable of getting that promotion herself; what it had come down to was Grissom. Why he had given him the recommendation and not Sara was still a mystery to him. Not that he was going to begrudge the vote of confidence from his supervisor; but there had been rumors flying around that Sara and Grissom had a history and that she was a shoo-in for the job. If it hadn't been for that, he might not have been so frank with Grissom about not caring if he got it.

"Equipment aside, you still beat me out for it." Her tone was soft as she looked into his eyes for a moment.

"And next time you'll probably beat me out." Nick impulsively leaned over and kissed her forehead, grinning as he pulled back and slung his arm around the back of her chair, smiling just a little bit wider as Sara leaned against him.

The exchange wasn't lost on Carly who seemed to lean a little closer to Pete.

Ben had been pretty quiet for a while and as he observed Carly and Pete getting cozy and Sara seemingly unfazed by it all, he decided to interject something to add a little fun to his evening. "Did you know that Pete has a dog, Sara?"

There was something in his mischievous grin that made Sara wonder why this was suddenly so important and why Pete's eyes suddenly seemed to widen in momentary panic. "Uh, no I wasn't aware that he did."

Pete seemed to be choking on his drink as Carly's eyes danced with mischief and Ben continued talking. "Oh, yeah, he's had her almost seven years now...got her right after you left." Ben ignored Pete's pointed stare and simply smiled Sara's direction. "Want to know what he named her?"

Sara thought all of her former colleagues were acting a little weird now and she thought she'd just play along, "Sure, tell me what he named the dog."

"Sara." Ben just grinned in delight and fought back a chuckle at how red Pete's face seemed to be.

Sara was suddenly quiet as she realized that despite the fact that he'd never picked up the phone to call her after she'd left, Pete had apparently had much stronger feelings for her than she'd realized. She leaned into Nick and glanced around at the others not quite sure what to say.

Pete furrowed his brow; he really hadn't wanted this to come up at all, but now that it had, he probably owed Sara an explanation; only he really didn't want to do with three other people around. However, he wasn't so sure she'd agree to talk to him alone right this second and so he launched into an explanation after shooting Ben a glare, "I guess I took you leaving a little harder than I wanted to admit...and naming the dog Sara, well it was only after I'd gotten over you and moved on that I realized how dumb that was and it was a little late to change her name by then."

Carly leaned forward conspiratorially, letting her hand rest a bit too comfortably on Pete's back, "He's got a picture of her in his wallet." Seeing the confusion on Nick's face, she thought she ought to clarify, "Of the dog that is."

Somehow that seemed to break the tension of the moment and everyone dissolved into giggles; the humor of the situation and the alcohol seemed to have loosened everyone up considerably.

"You've got a picture of your dog that you named after your ex-girlfriend in your wallet?" For some reason Nick found that so funny that he now had tears running down his cheeks. "Man that's got to be a killer for your dating life." He'd done some pretty stupid things for the sake of a woman, but after a breakup he usually knew when it was time to move on.

"It's had a few challenges." Pete took it all in stride and without thinking he reached over and began to toy with Carly's long hair. "But I think I'm doing alright."

The pieces finally slid together for Sara and she arched a brow in amusement as she regarded her two former coworkers, "Just how long have you two been seeing each other?" It was obvious by the way they were interacting with affectionate gestures that they liked each other quite a bit and it seemed to be so subtle that it wasn't something that they were really even thinking about.

"Uh, we're not seeing each other," Carly straightened up and tried to keep her smile toned down.

Ben nearly snorted his drink out of his nose, "Who the hell do you think you're fooling, Carly?" It was common knowledge around the San Francisco Crime Lab that the two were inseparable; if they were denying a relationship between them just to spare Sara's feelings they obviously hadn't picked up on the way she had been looking at Nick all night.

"Technically, she's right...we're _not_ seeing each other." Pete looked guilty as hell.

Carly smirked at Ben and then let out a soft laugh, "He's right, and you're not very observant." She glanced at Pete and smiled before addressing the rest of the table, "We went down to the courthouse and got married last Thursday." She flashed a simple gold band on her left hand to emphasize her point.

This time some of Ben's drink _did_ come out his nose.

"Congratulations." Sara had always thought that Pete and Carly would make a great couple, but that was before she and Pete had gotten together and she'd sort of put it out of her mind since Carly had never mentioned that she was attracted to him. Of course since it had been nearly two years since Sara had even talked to her it shouldn't have surprised her at all.

For some reason, that little tidbit of information that Sara's ex-boyfriend was now securely attached to another woman made Nick feel a rush of relief and he hugged his arm around Sara just a little bit tighter as he offered his congratulations.


	8. Chapter 8

The walk back to the hotel was unhurried and Nick made no apologies about enveloping Sara's hand with his. He had thoroughly enjoyed spending the evening with her and her former coworkers. Even the revelation that Sara used to date Pete had brought a certain highlight to the evening after Ben had told them about the dog and any jealously that Nick might have had about the attachment that Pete obviously had to Sara many years ago diminished the moment he found out that he and Carly were married. Yes, overall, the evening had been very enjoyable.

Sara noticed the smile on Nick's face and found herself trying to swallow one as well. She was definitely enjoying this, but she also chided herself that she needed to remain a bit more rational than the previous evening because they needed to talk. It wasn't fair to either of them to continue on where this was leading without knowing what the intent behind all of this affection was and at least on her part, without Nick learning just who she had recently broken up with. That alone might change the way that he was behaving towards her and she needed him to know that before they crossed the line beyond just making out.

Nick was trying to formulate some reason to extend their evening without being completely obvious as they stepped out of the elevator towards their rooms, and just as he was going to say something, Sara beat him to it.

She smiled at him as she pulled out her key card and glanced over her shoulder, "Do you want to come in and watch TV or something?" She hoped it didn't sound like she was inviting him in for more than that, but that was probably _exactly_ what it sounded like.

Nick felt a flip in his stomach at the way she smiled at him and as he spoke, his voice sounded like sex melted into a smooth warm southern twang, "I'd love to come in." He couldn't help but reach out and caress her shoulder.

Sara sucked in her breath and felt nerves swirling out of control deep in the pit of her stomach as she opened the door; she definitely needed to make things clear before she allowed herself to lose control with Nick. As the door shut behind them, she felt Nick's arms encircling her waist and a soft kiss pressed against her cheek.

"Mmm, I've been wanting to kiss you all night." Nick hadn't wanted to make a spectacle out of them by kissing her in front of her friends; they hadn't exactly defined what was going on here and the thought occurred to him that at some point between kisses they probably should talk about all of this.

Sara couldn't help herself as she turned in his arms and let herself get absorbed for a few minutes in his kiss. There was something about the way that man could kiss that made her feel intoxicated. When they finally pulled apart a few minutes later feeling a bit breathless, Sara's voice held a certain husky quality to it even as she unconsciously flicked her tongue out over her lips, "I think we need to talk."

Nick felt a sinking sensation, but the fact that she was still standing there in his arms dispelled a little of the worry that he felt at the uncertainty that he could read in her eyes. He smile softly, "I was thinking that might be a good idea too."

"Oh, good, that's good." Sara couldn't stop the swirl of nerves as she stepped away from him and tried to gather her thoughts. She had to admit to herself that she hadn't intended for something to happen between her and Nick at all; she'd just broken things off with Grissom, taken a break was what she'd told him. But now that she had definitely crossed a line with Nick she didn't think she wanted to go back. Of course he might have another opinion once he learned exactly who is was that she'd broken up with.

Nick's easy drawl broke the silence, "I know that we've been friends for a long time, Sar." He smiled at her as her eyes snapped up and locked with hers, "I just don't think that's enough for me anymore. I'd be lying if I told you that I hadn't thought about all of this before." He didn't think he wanted to tell her _exactly_ how many times that had been or exactly how long ago he'd started having thoughts like that; maybe somewhere down the road if they found themselves getting serious he might admit all of that. For now, just coming clean with his feelings was enough.

Somehow his confession made what she had to say all that much more difficult because she wasn't sure that he'd respect her for dating their boss under the noses of everyone in the lab. Her smile felt forced and she sincerely hoped that it didn't look that way. "Wow, I'm not really sure what to say to that," she felt her smile relax a little as she let out a breath and sat down on the end of the bed and looked up at him, "this has all be a bit of a surprise to me to be honest." Sara let out a nervous laugh, "a pleasant surprise, but still a surprise," she felt drawn to him the way you find yourself drawn to a warm summer sunset.

Nick felt a grin taking over his expression and he stepped towards her and sank down onto the bed next to her, "That's good." He felt a swell of hope, but he sensed that she was still trying to process it all.

Sara glanced over at him, nibbling at her lower lip as she clasped her hands together and furrowed her brow, "There's something that I have to tell you."

There was something about the way she was looking at him that made him wonder if he'd misinterpreted where she was coming from. Maybe he'd underestimated Sara entirely and maybe whatever this was between them was just for this week. He felt that sinking feeling sink a little further and his brow furrowed as he waited for her to continue.

Sara couldn't bring herself to look at him as she continued speaking, "I told you that I wasn't seeing someone anymore. The truth is I literally broke things off right before this trip." She let out a laugh that was somewhere between bitter and incredulous.

"Oh," Nick was beginning to wonder if she really was having second thoughts about all of this or if he had become a convenient rebound for whoever this was that she'd dumped. He was beginning to feel like a fool for wearing his heart on his sleeve.

She could hear the hint of hurt in his voice and she felt a pang in her heart for her friend that she'd seen go through a lifetime of hell since she'd known him; she didn't want to add to it. "I don't want you thinking that this doesn't mean something to me because it does."

Nick felt a smirk pulling at his mouth and he reached over and slipped his hand in between hers, "It means something to me too." That wasn't the half of it really, but he wanted her to know that he didn't take crossing that line of friendship into something more lightly.

"You need to know who it was that I was seeing," Her voice was a whisper and she could almost hear the gears working in his mind as she cleared her voice, but she knew if things between them went any further, they needed to be on the same page and she didn't want this to come up later and become an issue between them.

The pieces slipped into place and Nick felt like an idiot for not seeing it before, "Was it Grissom?" As he watched her nod and her shoulders sag, he wasn't sure why her admission should hurt him; but then again, maybe he was feeling hurt for her and whatever it was that had caused her to give up on someone that she'd been more than a little consumed with for the last couple of years. The fact that he hadn't known about it until right now just underscored that.

"It just wasn't what I thought it would be, Nick; and I couldn't tell anyone about us." Sara looked sad but relieved at the same time that she'd finally been able to tell someone. "I just thought you should know because I won't blame you if you have second thoughts about me." She felt exposed in a way that she never really had before and she realized that the deep friendship that they'd cultivated over the years had created a level of trust that had suddenly become incredibly fragile.

There was something in the way she looked that made Nick realize that she wouldn't take a change in their status as friends lightly either and if he'd thought she'd use him as a rebound to get over Grissom, that worry seemed to fade away as he realized that this was his friend Sara and he'd known her for nearly seven years; of all the people he worked with he knew that she'd always be there for him. Nick shook his head and smiled at her, giving her hand a squeeze. "No second thoughts here." He knew exactly what he felt for her and the fact that Grissom appeared to be history, no matter how recent that history was seemed to be one less thing that was hovering over his head.

As his words sunk in, a smiled stole over Sara's face and she let out a mixture of a giggle and a sigh as she realized that her worst fear hadn't come to fruition after all.


	9. Chapter 9

Nick had difficulty concentrating during the sessions the next day, especially when it happened to be a session that he was sitting in alone. He and Sara had talked long into the night, the tone of things becoming much more serious and effectively putting a damper on anything romantic that might have been entertained by either one of them earlier. Nick hadn't asked her to elaborate, but Sara felt compelled to tell him about just how she'd ended up in a secret relationship with Grissom and how at least in her mind it had all finally unraveled. That conversation led into others that delved a little bit into Sara's life in San Francisco and then what had propelled Nick to leave a secure future and his large extended family in Dallas for the unknown of Las Vegas. By the time they were done talking it was so late that sleep was the only thing on either of their minds and so with another full day of the conference ahead of them they had reluctantly said goodnight and Nick had slipped through the connecting door into his own room.

He was still processing everything that had transpired and what he hoped might still happen before the week was out. He knew that she wasn't one to jump into a relationship with someone without at least some analytical thought thrown in there somewhere, but he wasn't some guy that she'd just met, they'd known each other for years and maybe it was that at least in part that made him realize that he had to tread carefully to preserve the friendship that had grown up between them. Nick had gathered bits and pieces over the years to put together a picture of Sara that didn't include any close family and only a few close friends; essentially she didn't really have any roots and he sensed in her a longing to find a place where she belonged in such a way that she could firmly plant herself and have the life that she seemed to have missed out on somewhere along the line.

As much as he was trying to concentrate on the presentation on some cutting edge advances in trace analysis, his thoughts continued to drift to Sara. The way that her lips felt against his for the first time had been singed into his memory and he couldn't help but smile at the way she had eagerly returned his kiss. He had entertained thoughts about her for probably years that had just been embellished with the knowledge of what kissing her and holding her felt like. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd felt so overwhelmingly attracted to someone and the fact that they were friends put a spin on things that he truly had never experienced and hadn't really expected. If he was honest with himself, part of the excitement at what was happening between them was tempered with the fear that he was going to mess things up somehow and that just as she'd told Grissom things were over, that she might do the same to him.

As the session wrapped up and his seatmate commented on how compelling the presentation had been, Nick could only nod realizing that he'd completely tuned out the last half of it. He let out a soft chuckled as he filed out and began to search for a glimpse of Sara who was supposed to attend the same session he was after a lunch break. He knew they wouldn't have enough time to have a leisurely meal at some out of the way bistro, but that was ok; he was already formulating plans for a nice romantic dinner as soon as the last session of the day let out and then maybe after that, they could take advantage of those connecting doors.

Sara chided herself for feeling so giddy seeing Nick across the lobby of the conference center looking for her and she knew that he was looking for her because as she caught his eyes, his face was transformed by that mega-watt smile of his. The thought occurred to her that this was definitely the best case of requited infatuation that she'd ever experienced; she wasn't about to allow herself to think about the idea of falling in love at this stage of things, but she certainly was going to see where things led and go along for the ride.

Nick weaved through the crowd until he was standing next to Sara; he could broach the subject about dinner over a quick lunch, "Hey, how was your session?" He thought that she had gone to hear something about the application of theoretical physics in interrupted trajectories or something like that; he'd spent more time thinking about her than where she said that she'd been going.

"It was alright; I think that the premise of the theory is ok, but in practicum I'm not sure how applicable it is in the field." Sara looked somewhat disappointed that she'd spent an hour and a half listening to someone who had clearly done more theory in a lab than they'd ever spent working a crime scene. "How was yours?"

Nick smirked, "Good." He didn't want to go into detail about how he'd lost track of what the speaker was saying because he'd been daydreaming about her. "You hungry?"

"Ugh, yes, I'm starving," Sara had been even more frustrated at her speedy metabolism which had her stomach talking back to her in the middle of the session. Yes, food sounded good, and food with Nick sounded wonderful.

They filed out of the convention center and as they did, Nick felt her slip her hand into his. A smile spread out across his face, "I think that there's a deli around her somewhere we could grab something quick."

"Good, this is going to be a long day and since we're not going to have much time for dinner later we should make the most of it." Sara smiled at him and then impulsively slipped her arms around him before leaning up and softly kissing him, savoring the fact that she could do that just because she wanted to.

As they broke apart, Nick had a mischievous look and a raised eyebrow, "Just what did you have in mind, Ms. Sidle?" He had a few ideas about exactly how he'd like to make the most of their break, but he was fairly certain that hers involved actually eating lunch.

She pursed her lips together in an impish smile and placed a chaste kiss against his mouth before pulling away again and threading her arm through his, "A sandwich sounds fine; but we may have to consider a late dinner since Dr. Lee is speaking tonight." Dinner and Nick sounded like just the right way to wrap up the day up.

Oh, crap, that was it; Nick chided himself; he knew that there was some reason that his idea for a romantic evening out on the town didn't seem to gel quite right, "A late dinner sounds good; maybe dinner and a movie?" How in the world he could have forgotten that Dr. Henry Lee was speaking during a special evening session just further underscored in his mind exactly how distracted he was by Sara.

"Sure," Sara wasn't sure that by then she'd really want to go out on the town at all; they would still have to be up early for another day of the conference and at the rate they were going, they'd need another week off when they got back from Vegas to recover from the whole experience. She had really hoped for something a little bit more low key than the evening they'd had the first night they were in town.

Nick detected a hint of something in her voice and he felt emboldened for a moment and decided to test the waters a little to see just how far he might be able to push things, "Or we could just watch something on TV and order in." He watched Sara's face for any sign that maybe he had overstepped his bounds, but the response he got was definitely in his favor.

Sara felt a flip in her stomach as a smile spread across her features and she cast a glance at him as she answered, "Room service sounds perfect."


	10. Chapter 10

"There are tens of thousands of professions in this world. Every profession is unique. Every profession needs a few who are the best, who can develop and improve that profession. Why not pick an area within your limits, then set the goal of no limit for that profession. Within that area you choose, choose to strive for the best." Dr. Henry Lee was wrapping up his lecture to a crowded auditorium. For the last hour and a half tired conference goers had been attentive to the man who was a legend in the field of forensic science. He had a remarkable career that had spanned the globe and he could rightfully claim that he'd been part of some of the most challenging and high profile cases in recent history. As he stepped from behind the lectern the crowd responded with thunderous applause; it was evident that his appearance at the conference was the highlight for many.

As they filed out of the auditorium the electricity in the air was apparent and Nick captured Sara's hand with his; intending to enjoy the short walk back to their hotel along the river and perhaps stoke the mood up a little bit by taking advantage of the ambiance this area seemed to freely offer up. As they walked, Sara bordered on gushing as she talked about the lecture and how much she hoped that she could look back and have had a career that was even a quarter of what Dr. Lee's was when all was said and done. Nick simply smiled; he'd thoroughly enjoyed the lecture as well, but right now he was thoroughly enjoying hearing Sara talk about it. One of the things he had always admired about her was her passion for her career. Only someone who shared that passion for forensics could find her enthusiasm for it a turn on.

"I know that we work at the number two lab in the country, but have you ever entertained the idea of jumping at the opportunity to work for someone like Dr. Lee?" Sara's eyes were bright as she glanced over at him with a wide smile.

"I think we both more than entertained that idea moving to Vegas to work with Grissom," He knew that she was more like himself than she might want to admit; Grissom was nearly as well regarded for his specialization in forensic entomology as Dr. Lee was for his overall skill as a forensic scientist. To work with someone with such a professional reputation could only enhance your career.

Sara's lips pursed together in an effort to control her smile and keep a pinkish hue from spreading out onto her cheeks, "I guess you're right." She hadn't ever really considered herself impulsive, except perhaps when it came to men. In that area she seemed to find her heart entangled long before her mind was even aware of it and when she jumped in, it was usually with both feet. That had certainly been true of Grissom and in retrospect it had been her heart that had led her to Vegas. Now, however, it seemed that her heart had already become entangled with Nick's and she wondered to herself just how long ago it had really started heading that direction.

"Still, Dr. Lee _would_ be fascinating to work under; the opportunities for the types of cases he gets to work would make it worth it alone," Nick couldn't help but grin at her as they entered the hotel.

As they stepped into the elevator, Sara glanced over at him and felt a swirl of nerves spinning in her stomach, "We still getting a little room service?" There was that pensive lilt in her voice again; somehow hopeful and doubtful all at once. She was definitely hungry; a fact that her stomach had been making clear to her for the last hour or so, but she was also looking forward to spending some time alone with Nick and she hoped that he still wanted to spend time with her.

Nick felt his mouth pulling into a smile as he pushed the button for their floor and then pulled her close. "I've been looking forward to room service since lunch." He didn't want to presume that there would be anything beyond dinner and a movie in the comfort of one of their rooms, but it didn't mean that he wasn't thinking about it, that he hadn't been thinking about it most of the afternoon. He wanted her, he wasn't even going to try and deny it, but he was going to take his cues from her and let her determine just how far things between them went.

Sara smirked at him; amusement dancing in her eyes, "Well maybe you should have eaten more at lunch if you're _that_ hungry." She knew that she was taunting him, but she didn't really care; they'd known each other for years, enjoying a flirty banter and she wanted him to know that she had absolutely no hesitation about taking letting things between them take their natural course.

Nick let out a deep laugh and leaned down to kiss her, as he pulled back a fraction he whispered, "I really wasn't talking much about food." His stomach chose that moment to let out an audible grumble.

Sara leaned in for another kiss and giggled against his mouth before pulling away as the ding of the elevator announced their floor, "Well it looks like your stomach has other ideas."

A short while later they were devouring the remnants of dinner and lounging shoulder to shoulder on Sara's bed watching the latest James Bond flick _Casino Royale_ that they'd picked from the hotel's pay per view. "I didn't realize this one was already out as a rental." Nick glanced over at Sara who had almost completely finished her pistachio encrusted halibut. He loved the fact that Sara could pack as much away as the guys, but still keep slim and fit.

"I know, I can't remember the last time that I actually went _out_ to a movie," And the fact that Grissom had insisted they keep their relationship a secret certainly had not helped _that_ situation. She set her plate down on the bedside table next to her and she wondered just how in the world she'd managed to eat it all.

"Me either," Nick took another bite of the potatoes that had accompanied his prime rib and let out a satisfied sigh. Even though this was a business trip first, it certainly was starting to feel much more like a vacation. And he was sure that the reason for it was Sara and the feelings that had blossomed between them since they arrived in San Antonio.

Sara quirked an eyebrow at him, "That surprises me; you always seem to make time to get out." He had told her several years ago that he thought she needed to get out more; he and Warrick always seemed to be going somewhere after shift or had inside information about some new club that had opened up.

Nick set his plate down on the bedside table and smirked, "Well going to the movies alone isn't at the top of my list." Going out for the sake of going out had sort of lost its appeal for Nick; since his abduction his perspective on life had changed and if he did go to a club it was usually with friends and to enjoy their company. He didn't really feel like the type of woman he used to pick up in those clubs was the type of woman he was looking for anymore.

Sara smiled at him and shifted her body towards him, "You know going to the movies by yourself can be very liberating." During her forced time off after her near DUI, she had come to grips with a number of things and one of those was being comfortable enough in her own skin to take in a movie by herself. She never realized that something so simple could infuse a type of confidence in herself that she hadn't realized she was lacking in the first place.

Nick had an impish grin on his face as he regarded her, "Are you saying that you'd rather be alone?" He could tell from her body language that she most certainly did not want to be alone, but the flirty banter they'd always shared had a life of its own.

Sara smirked at him as she slid a hand up his chest and around his neck until her fingers could play at the short hair at the nape of his neck, "Alone with you." She arched her brows at him suggestively and then leaned towards him slowly.

Nick closed the distance between them and he slipped his fingers into her hair as he captured her lips with his own with a hungry kiss and the sounds of James Bond in the background were quickly forgotten.


	11. Chapter 11

Somewhere in the middle of one of the most sensual make out sessions that Nick could remember, Sara uttered a few words that sent chills down his spine and blood straight to his groin. Until that moment, Nick hadn't wanted to assume that this was heading where his fondest dreams had been living for some time.

Sara was busily nibbling on Nick's earlobe as she slid her hands underneath his shirt and then slowly slung her leg over his thigh, "I hope you have a condom." Her voice was thick and sultry and she was giving every indication that she was completely serious.

Nick let out a growl and slid his hand down over her butt as he pulled her hips flush with his, "Back pocket." He hoped that she didn't think he was being presumptuous by putting one there, but he also hadn't wanted to be unprepared and spoil the moment. There could only one first time and he wanted it to be memorable for all the right reasons. The feel of Sara's hand sliding against his butt as she fished the little square package out assured him that she didn't mind at all.

There was a delighted smirk on Sara's face as she pulled back a little and looked into Nick's eyes, "Well I suppose we've got a ways to go before we're going to use that." She arched her brows at him before she leaned in and kissed him.

Nick mumbled against her lips, "Damn straight...too many clothes." She definitely had too many clothes on, something that he was trying to wrap his mind around needing to do something about it as he realized that his wildest dreams were about to come true.

In the middle of it all, Sara managed to extricate Nick from his pullover shirt. She'd been well aware of how the ribbed material had hugged his well delineated chest all evening long and now that she'd gotten him out of it, she couldn't stop her fingers from trailing over his skin as if they were trying to catalogue every nuance of the muscles.

Nick was equally thrilled to finally get Sara out of her blouse and he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he took note of her lacy bra; he always had preferred lace on a woman. It was almost a shame that he intended to get her out of the lace too. Almost.

Their pants came next; a rather tricky maneuver that left them both giggling at the awkwardness of it all; there was just no sexy way to get your pants off while laying down and with the air conditioning in the hotel room making things a little too chilly for the moment, Nick wrapped the comforter loosely around them as they lay there in nothing but their underwear. As the reality of where they were going with all of this set in, the sounds of James Bond and his impending peril broke through and it was Sara that groped around for the remote to finally shut the TV off and managed to hit the dimmer on the bedside lamp.

"You're so sexy," Nick's whisper was filled with a smoky lust and his drawl was far more pronounced than normal as he took in the sight of her there in his arms. He wanted to savor these next moments as they crossed the threshold into much more serious territory.

"The feeling's definitely mutual," Sara's voice had a husky quality to it and the feel of her body pressed up against his caused her to subconsciously match her breathing to his. This was what she'd been thinking about since the night they arrived in San Antonio and went on that carriage ride. Maybe she'd always had feelings for Nick and maybe she'd ignored them because she thought he'd never see her as the type of woman he'd be interested in; or maybe she was just now discovering that all that flirty banter over the years had run far deeper than she'd imagined. Whatever it was, she found herself unbearably excited at the prospect of what was coming next and she melted into Nick as he leaned in and kissed her deeply.

In the back of Nick's mind he was jumping up and down and shouting from the rooftops that he was finally with the woman of his dreams and that excitement came through in his kiss and his touch as he began to show Sara exactly how much he wanted her.

Sara's mind registered just how good all of this felt; the feel of his chest against hers after her bra had been discarded, the feel of his lips and fingers exploring newly exposed flesh, the feel of the whisper soft fabric of her panties slipping down her hips, and the oh so wonderful feel of Nick and how male his body felt against hers as they were finally pressed flesh to flesh the entire length of their bodies.

One word kept slipping into Nick's mind as he and Sara kissed and touched and explored each others bodies, and a mild panic set in as the word tumbled out because he knew if she didn't have the right answer that this just might be the best and worst night of his entire life in recent memory. "Condom?!"

"You brought one, remember?" Sara was so intent on memorizing the curve of his neck with her lips that she didn't immediate register what he was really saying.

Nick's words came out in staccato bursts, "Where?" She felt so damn good. "Can't...find." Did her hand have to do that right this second? "Need..." He let out a groan. "Now." He wasn't sure he would have the wherewithal to stop if she didn't catch on to what he was implying. She had been the one to take the condom out of his back pocket and that had been the last time he'd seen it. Clearly he could go down to the hotel lobby and purchase some from the sundries shop if they were open at this hour that is. However, he was certain that leaving in the middle of foreplay would be a definite mood killer.

Sara finally realized what he was talking about and it took her another moment or two to remember where exactly she'd carefully stashed that very important little bit of protection. Her arm flailed toward the bedside table again and after a few attempts she found what she was looking for. And she handed it over with a smiled followed by a rather sensual kiss.

There was cheering in Nick's mind as he made quick work of the package and he felt relief wash over him that he could just give himself over to the moment. He looked into Sara's eyes and he saw the immense desire that he felt for her mirrored there. His dear friend who was nerdy and logical and analytical and worked far too much wanted him as much as he wanted her and even before they'd joined their bodies, he felt the euphoria building.

Much quicker than Sara had anticipated they were tumbling into a euphoric bliss and as they lay there tangled up in each others arms waiting for the waves of pleasure to ebb, she wondered to herself just how in the world she'd missed what was right in front of her all this time. She murmured softly as she snuggled a little closer to Nick, "That was amazing; we should definitely do that again."

There was a smile on Nick's face as he began to drift off to sleep, "Count on it, darlin'."


	12. Chapter 12

Nick was on a mission. He had left a very warm and soft sleeping Sara alone where they had both been tangled up in the covers from her bed in favor of taking care of one very important detail. He had briefly entertained the idea of ordering a box of condoms through room service along with breakfast and then the more rationale recently sated part of his brain interjected the thought that he would be hard pressed to explain that little line item on his expense report to Ecklie. No, this was definitely one purchase he did not want billed to his room and so he had carefully extricated himself from Sara, slipped through the connecting door into his room to quickly dress and then had slinked out into the hallway and headed down to the lobby where the sundries shop ought to just be opening.

He got a few knowing smiles on the ride down the elevator; he probably looked like one lucky bastard on his way home after one hell of a night. Half of that was true at least; he was one lucky bastard, but the only home he was interested in right that moment was right next to the woman he'd left sleeping upstairs in bed. He supposed he looked a bit rumpled, but considering his mission, he didn't give one iota what anyone thought. Buy the box of condoms and get back upstairs in bed with Sara before she woke up so that maybe, just maybe they might have a repeat of last night before joining the conference for the day. He was so intent on his purpose that it wasn't until he was checking out with his purchase safely stowed in a bag that he noticed a familiar face eyeing him from across the shop and he felt his heart sink immediately into his shoes as he wondered just how long he'd been standing there and if he had seen what he'd just bought.

A smug smirk adorned the face of David Hodges as he walked over to where his coworker was making a hasty purchase, "Hello there Nick." He wondered what in the world could be so important that Stokes had to get up at the crack of dawn to buy it. Of course someone like Nick Stokes probably didn't like the hotel's complimentary soap or shampoo and maybe needed a toothbrush.

Nick tried to hide his surprise and surmised that he was probably failing miserably, "Hodges. What are you doing in San Antonio?" He hadn't remembered hearing that any of the lab techs would be attending the conference; of course he hadn't asked either.

"Same reason you're here." Hodges was smiling now as if he and Nick were the best of friends and this was some sort of reunion. Noting Nick's surprise, Hodges pursed his lips slightly, "Actually, I took some vacation days to come to the last half of the conference, but I talked Conrad into getting the department to pay for the partial registration; we're tight like that."

"Right," Nick was trying to figure out how to get rid of Hodges and get back up to Sara before she woke up and wondered if he had second thoughts.

Hodges seemed almost pleasant, "I'm here a little too early to check into my room so I'm sort of hoping to run into my lady friend." The last two words were spoken with an infusion of something that probably was supposed to make him sound like women were clamoring for his number.

Nick quirked an eyebrow; he would have been amused had he not been in a hurry to get back up to Sara, "Your lady friend." There was a hint of doubt in his voice that Hodges actually had a lady friend.

If Hodges picked up on Nick's tone he didn't show it. Instead he seemed to smile a bit bigger as his thoughts drifted to the lucky woman, "Her name is Lola and she works at the crime lab up in Seattle."

"Ok, way to go there, Hodges," Nick sincerely hoped that Hodges did have a friend and that she kept him plenty busy because he had no intention of squandering the rest of the week he had with Sara by trying to include David Hodges and do some sightseeing. He began to edge towards the door of the sundries shop.

Hodges didn't seem to notice and unconsciously followed Nick, "Yeah, we met at the conference last year; really seemed to hit it off, we've been staying in touch via email. We made plans to meet again this year to see where things might lead." Hodges arched his brows in an attempt at a real ladies man look.

"Well I hope things work out for you two." Nick glanced over at the elevator bay and wondered exactly how rude it would be to just sprint for it. He glanced back at Hodges and pasted on a friendly smile as he realized that would be far more suspicious than just getting to the point, "I don't mean to cut you off, man, but I've got to get ready for the first session." What Hodges didn't need to know was his plans included waking up Sara Sidle in a very memorable fashion that would make good use of the contents of the bag he held in his hand.

"Right. I'll see you later then. We should do lunch." Hodges seemed to be none the wiser as he resumed his perch in the lobby of the hotel in hopes of catching a glimpse of Lola.

Nick waved in Hodges' general direction and walked briskly towards the elevator. It seemed to take an eternity to arrive and another eternity to reach his floor. By the time he slipped back into his room he hoped that Sara was still asleep next door.

A whoosh of cool air roused Sara from a very peaceful sleep but it was followed by the feel of Nick's body pressed up against hers and a soft lingering kiss against her neck. She smiled sleepily not wanting to open her eyes quite yet in case this was all a dream. She let out a soft sigh and for the first time since they'd arrived in San Antonio, she wished that this was truly a vacation and they could forget about the conference at least for a little while.

"Mornin'," Nick smiled as he whispered into her ear. This was something he'd dreamed about for a long time and he sincerely hoped that this would be the first of many mornings that he'd get to wake up Sara just like this.

Sara blinked her eyes open and glanced over her shoulder at him before turning her body to face him. She smirked as a realization hit her, "You got dressed." His boxers snuggled up against her were a dead giveaway.

He grinned conspiratorially, "I had to run a little errand." He fished for the bag he'd brought with him and dangled it in front of her before dumping out the box of condoms between them. "I didn't think that these showing up on my hotel bill by ordering them with room service would be a very good idea, especially since Grissom has to approve our expense reports."

Sara's eyes widened as she considered that they were going to have to figure out how to deal with this relationship in the real world once they got back to Vegas, "He's going to find out eventually, Nick." She truly dreaded that conversation; there was a part of her that wondered if Grissom would jump to conclusions and assume that she'd started seeing Nick while he was on his sabbatical on the East Coast. She certainly hoped not because one thing that she definitely did not do was cheat on someone; she'd been on the receiving end of that a couple of times and she wouldn't wish it on anyone.

"Do you have a problem with him finding out?" There was a hint of worry in Nick's eyes as he studied her; he knew that her breakup with Grissom was rather fresh, but as their supervisor, he probably should know that they had more than just a friendly relationship now.

"No," She smiled at him reassuringly although she was going to completely dread having that conversation with Grissom, "It just occurred to me that no one but you and I know about this." And she wouldn't mind keeping it that way for a little while longer until she could get used to the idea.

Nick pursed his lips together, "Uh, maybe not." He really didn't know what Hodges had seen; maybe he'd seen nothing and maybe he had and maybe he wouldn't put the pieces together at all, but he thought Sara should know.

Sara offered him a quizzical expression.

"Uh, I ran into Hodges downstairs...right when I was buying these, or after, I'm not sure what he saw." Nick was rambling now and he hoped that he hadn't just killed the mood.

"Oh." Sara felt a momentary sinking feeling, but then took a deep breath and reasoned that if Hodges found out about them, they wouldn't have to worry about telling anyone at all; he'd do it for them and probably before they'd even make it back to Vegas.

"Yeah," He detected a bit of a mischievous glint in her eyes as she seemed to angle her body closer to his.

The last thing Sara wanted to think about right now was David Hodges; there would be plenty of time to figure out exactly what he knew later. "Did I mention that I thought you were a little overdressed?" It was all well and good that he'd gotten dressed to go downstairs, but his attired did not fit in with her morning plans at all; the conference didn't start up again for a couple of hours and she fully intended to make use of every minute of it with Nick.


	13. Chapter 13

Hodges loitered in the lobby for a mere 1 hour, 26 minutes and 39 seconds before his eyes snapped to where the elevators spilled out into the lobby. He was momentarily speechless as he carefully noted every nuance of her face; it may have been a year since he'd last seen her in person, but he would have known Lola anywhere. She was walking his direction, her head down studying a conference program and not having a clue about the effect she was having on a certain trace lab technician from Las Vegas. Hodges finally found his words and they came out in a stammer as began to walk past him, "Lola."

Her head snapped up revealing clear blue eyes framed by a rather bookish pair of glasses and wavy reddish-brown tresses. The girlish squee belied her rather professional looking exterior, "David!" She had rarely stumbled across someone that appreciated her interest in the minutia of science the way she did and when she'd bumped into Hodges at the conference the year before she felt like she'd found her soul mate. But of course she wasn't one to be impulsive or irrational and so she'd just assumed that they could correspond and be pen-pals of sorts. She hadn't counted on the fact that the more they emailed the more she found feelings welling up in her that she'd never really felt to quite this extent, and when he had suggested that they meet at the conference this year, well, she'd had to pull a few strings and take a little vacation since her lab had selected someone else to attend, but she wanted to find out if there was anything behind the carefully honed prose in the emails of one David Hodges.

Hodges was smiling so broadly as he just stood there staring at her that his face hurt. He wasn't sure if it was appropriate to hug her; he was never really very sure when it came to women and he was always second guessing himself. Part of him wished that he'd paid more attention to Nick, Warrick, and even Sanders as they'd spun tails of snagging hot babes at swank clubs on the strip. Winging it was not his forte, but judging from the smile on Lola's face, she was excited to see him. Maybe there would be hope for something to develop between him and this scientific bombshell. "I was hoping you'd walk by." It had been no accident; she had told him where she was staying and he made sure that he got a room at the same hotel and then got a flight so early that she'd have to have gotten up before dawn to slip past him.

"I was hoping I'd see you too." Lola had sort of hoped that he would have at least given her a hug; he'd been so friendly in his email, but then again, she got the impression that he was a bit old fashioned and that maybe he might be waiting for her to give some indication that she wanted one. She thought of herself as old fashioned too, but she threw caution to the wind as she sort of flung herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck in an impulsive hug.

Hodges couldn't hide his pleasure at this particular turn of events and he hesitantly hugged her back until it became apparent that she was more than receptive to him returning the hug. Yes, this was most definitely turning out far better than he'd expected. In fact it was turning out so well, he almost didn't want to let her go; almost. If there was one thing that he had learned about women it was that you didn't want to push things too far too fast; a hug was all well and good, but he had to pace himself. He took a full step back as she released her hold on him, "So what session were you planning on attending?" This was a forensics conference after all and while Lola was his motivation for coming, he did have an odd fascination with trace evidence just like she did.

Lola smiled. Yes, David Hodges was the perfect man in her eyes and she tilted her head a bit coyly, "Well, there is a track especially for advances in lab technology; we can go together unless you planned to attend something else." In the back of her mind she was keeping her fingers crossed that he planned to attend the same sessions as she was. The conference was already half over and that meant that she needed to try and push herself more than she might normally to answer that burning question as to whether David Hodges had the same depth of feelings for her that she had for him.

"No, I had exactly the same idea," Hodges had made no plan at all save for being wherever Lola was; the seminars and sessions were icing on the proverbial cake. "In fact we can head over there together."

Lola felt a smirk tug at her mouth as she glanced at her watch, "We have a little time; I was actually going to get a cup of coffee...you do drink coffee don't you?" She hoped that maybe they could linger a bit and get so caught up in conversation that they'd have to slip into the back row and raise a few eyebrows.

"I work the nightshift," Hodge's 'no duh' tone was filled with an amiable punch and he tried to act far more casual than he felt as he offered Lola his arm. As she threaded her arm through his, he felt a quiver in his stomach that under any other circumstances would be cause for ginger ale and maybe some Tylenol.

"I remembered," There wasn't much that Hodges had told her that Lola had forgotten. His emails had been newsy and well written and he had a wit that she found terribly endearing. "So, are you ready for some real Seattle-styled coffee?" If there was something other than forensics that she was well versed in it was coffee; coming from a town where there was a coffee stand on nearly every block she had become a connoisseur and somehow even here in San Antonio she'd managed to find a coffee shop that served a latte on par with anything she'd ever had in Seattle.

"Lead on, Lola," Hodges couldn't remember the last time he'd found someone quite as perfect as Lola that actually seemed to be interested in him as well. He tried to stay in the moment rather than living with the voices in his head that were jumping up and down and cheering him on, stomping up and down on the voice of doubt that had nagged him all the way to Texas.

They walked a few blocks to an out of the way coffee house that looked hip and stylish and was a far cry from the chain stores that seemed to litter the country. Hodges was so caught up in Lola that it wasn't until they had coffee in hand that he caught something out of the corner of his eye that made him wonder how in the world he'd missed his two coworkers leaving the hotel that he'd just been in and if what he was seeing was not just a figment of his overactive imagination then he had quite the scoop on lab gossip.

Lola followed Hodges, glancing at him curiously as he walked towards a rather cozy looking couple who were seated in the corner of the coffee house on one of several couches placed throughout the store. They each had a cup of coffee in hand and seemed to be having a rather intense moment that looked like it was on the verge of a kiss judging from the way they kept looking at each other. She thought that it was rather odd that David walked right up and just stood there waiting until their lips were touching before saying a word.

Hodges couldn't believe his good fortune at stumbling across his two coworkers; this was golden, "Nick. Sara." He smiled a bit too wide as the two CSI sprung apart and glanced up at him. "Sorry to interrupt," he wasn't sorry at all, the rest of the lab would hear about this before the day was over and he would be the king of the lab techs, "I'd like to introduce you to Lola."

Nick was tempted to introduce Hodges to a good old fashioned Texas-styled ass whooping for interrupting him and Sara. Instead, he stood up and extended his hand to Lola, who from all appearances looked like a very nice normal woman other than her apparent attraction to Hodges, "Nick Stokes." He gestured towards Sara, "And this is my coworker...uh, girlfriend, Sara Sidle." The coworker comment would have only worked had he not just been kissing Sara and a faint blush hued his cheeks.

Sara pursed her lips together at Nick's introduction in an effort to ward off the smile on her face, "Nice to meet you Lola." She was going to have to chat with Nick about that girlfriend title and exactly what that meant to him before they headed back to Vegas because judging from the arched brows of one David Hodges, he was already composing a few text messages in his head that he would be sending back to the lab at lighting speed.


	14. Chapter 14

If this new little golden nugget of information was enough to make Hodges the King of the Lab Rats, then the speed at which it traveled through cyberspace in the form of a broadcast text message to all of the other lab rats was just enough to make the proverbial shit hit the fan all that much faster for Nick and Sara. They were sitting in the first session of the morning when the distinct chirps indicating that a message was waiting on their cell phone began to go off nearly simultaneously several times in succession before they both managed to turn them off. Of course being fairly certain of what was on those messages neither one of them could really focus on the current lecture which prior to all of this had sounded extremely interesting.

Nick's jaw tensed as he glanced over and noticed that Sara looked about as irritated as he did. He growled under his breath, thankful that they had arrived late and ended up sitting in the back of the room, "Hodges is a dead man."

"And everyone would immediately suspect you and me," Sara could appreciate the desire to carefully pluck each and every one of Hodges' eyebrows out, followed by his lashes and then onto his toenails before surgically removing his tongue, although there were his lightning fast fingers of his to consider, so maybe it would just be more prudent to break those instead.

"Good point," Nick whispered back. Hodges had certainly accelerated things considerably, he had hoped that he and Sara might talk a little bit about how all of this was going to work out once they got back to Vegas; in the back of his mind he was still a bit worried that he was a convenient rebound after her break up with Grissom. What if the Bug Man wanted her back; his simple declaration to Hodges' lady friend Lola that Sara was his girlfriend did not make it so. The amazing time they'd had together so far aside; she had yet to tell him exactly where she stood or rather he hadn't pressed her on the issue; he reasoned that they would have time to sort all of it out sometime before their plane touched down in Vegas.

Sara was mentally considering their options; the last thing she wanted to do was talk to anyone in Vegas until she and Nick had sat down and talked through where this thing was heading; he may have told her that friendship wasn't enough for him, but with the appearance of Hodges and Nick's sudden declaration that she was his girlfriend her emotions were bordering on panic; controlled and very suppressed, but panic nevertheless. In the back of her mind she had thought that she'd be the one that would get to break the news to Grissom; make it clear that her declaration that she needed a break was in fact an actual break-up. She wanted to remove any ambiguity from that conversation so that he couldn't jump to the conclusion that she'd cheated on him with Nick. An assumption like that was completely possible, even from a man who insisted he only followed the evidence because despite the opinions of some people, Gil Grissom did have feelings, which at times _could_ be irrational.

The lecture was wrapping up and as some people filed out chatting about the implications of the information in the presentation and just how they might find ways to apply it in their own law enforcement agencies, Nick found that he'd missed most of the presentation because he was thinking about how to do a little damage control on Hodges. He nearly jumped when he felt Sara's hand come to rest on his arm, "Sorry." He glanced at her apologetically and he suddenly felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he considered that she looked conflicted.

"Hey, I think we need to go somewhere and talk," Sara was uncharacteristically _not_ thinking about the cutting edge forensics the seminar had been about; instead she was thinking about what was happening between her and the man sitting next to her. She really hadn't considered all of the implications of taking that leap beyond friendship with Nick until it was clear that Hodges was going to make it his mission to ensure that every last person at the Las Vegas Crime Lab knew about the developments before they even had the chance to truly define it themselves.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," As much as Nick wanted to talk to her about all of this he was suddenly feeling very unsure of himself. Romancing her in San Antonio was one thing but living it every day in Las Vegas under the scrutiny of all of their coworkers was completely another. He had no doubt how he felt about her; what he was having doubts about was how she truly felt about him.

As they filed out of room the lecture had been in, they seemed to naturally spill out of the convention center along with other conference goers in search of fresh air and somehow without really saying where they were going, the river seemed to draw them. They walked in an amicable silence for a while and then they both seemed to talk at once, eliciting nervous laughter from both of them.

Nick decided to just cut to the chase and lay things out so that Sara would know where he stood, "I know that Hodges sort of put an awkward spin on things, but it doesn't change how I'm feeling here, Sara."

"I know," Sara knew that there was no way he would have been willing to cross that line with her if he didn't have real feelings for her, "It's just," she took a breath and then felt a nervous smirk flit across her features as she glanced over and locked eyes with him, "It all just makes things a bit more real and...girlfriend?" She looked at him expectantly, not really sure what else to say. There was just something about that word that made things more serious than maybe she'd been ready to acknowledge.

Nick studied her earnestly for a good long moment, "I was fairly certain neither one of them was going to buy that we were just coworkers after that kiss and I thought after last night that things between us had changed." He didn't want to sound frustrated, but he really wasn't sure if she was having second thoughts or if he was reading far more into the situation than he should have.

Sara felt her heart in her throat, "Things between us have _definitely_ changed," she couldn't help the husky sound from infusing her voice, "I don't have any regrets about that, Nick." She really wasn't sure why this felt so difficult all of a sudden.

"I don't either," Nick felt his lips curl into a smile as he reached out and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear before he furrowed his brow slightly, "Is it the word 'girlfriend' or is it the idea of being with me?" He couldn't hide his own insecurity; he wanted to be with her, but just because she'd shared some moments of passion with him didn't necessarily mean that she wanted to be in a romantic relationship with him.

Sara's brows knit together as she shook her head and looked into his eyes, "It's not like that, it's not you...I just..." she took a deep breath to try and get her bearings, "All of this is a little overwhelming and trying to articulate to you what I'm feeling...it's not that simple...maybe it _is_ the word 'girlfriend', or maybe it's because I only recently broke things off with Grissom, and maybe it's just that I didn't expect that this would happen with us...that you would feel this way about me; that I would feel that way too." She felt a wave of relief as the words left her mouth.

Nick's insecurity was still showing through even as he stepped a little bit closer and pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear, "But you _do_ want to be with me, don't you?"

Sara hugged him back fiercely, "Yes, I do; I do want to be with you, Nick." She had more than willingly stepped across that line into something beyond friendship and even the smugness of David Hodges stealing their thunder and shipping it off to Vegas at lightning speed before they were really sure what to make of it all couldn't change that.


	15. Chapter 15

If the messages that Nick and Sara had just listened to were any indication, David Hodges had not quite made the gossip coup at the lab that he'd anticipated. It seemed that his text message was met with quite a bit of skepticism that no one seemed to buy into. Or perhaps it was just the way he'd phrased 'Nick and Sara getting jiggy with it in San Antone' and pressed send rather than picking up the phone and giving someone a little bit of background in a normal voice to voice conversation. The voicemail messages to Nick and Sara, which ended up being from Warrick and Greg were essentially giving both of them a heads up that Hodges was in San Antonio and intent on digging up some sort of dirt on them, presumably to detract from the lady friend he was supposed to meet there who no doubt would be a no show. Hodges' reputation as a big mouth had apparently worked to his detriment and possibly to Nick and Sara's advantage.

There was something about the whole situation that was far more satisfying than any revenge that either one of them could have come up with and exacted themselves. Nick had a huge grin on his face as they sat on a bench overlooking the river, "No one believes him."

Sara smirked and relaxed against the back of the bench as she glanced over at Nick, "Well he didn't provide any evidence either." She felt a certain amount of relief that no one bought Hodges' 'big scoop' even if it was the truth; she was still trying to process what was happening between her and Nick and if everyone found out after they got back to Vegas, well that would be that much better. There was no need to bring a scandal to something that wasn't scandalous; she cared about Nick, and while the turn of events had certainly been unexpected, they were not unwelcome.

Nick let out a chuckle and slung his arm around Sara's shoulders before pressing a kiss to her temple, "I suppose if he'd figured out how to use his camera phone things might be a little different." Not that he'd mind if the entire world knew that he was with Sara, but he had wanted to be the one to tell Warrick that he'd finally gotten the woman of his dreams; the woman that Warrick had told him would be forever fixated on Gil Grissom. He was pretty sure that this would be one time that Warrick would be glad that he was wrong.

"Well I suppose that we should be glad that he didn't," There was something in Sara's tone that belied her words; perhaps it was because they still hadn't truly been found out yet and she hoped that Nick's relief wasn't an indication that he didn't want anyone to know about them; she couldn't go through that again. If that was the case, this relationship was going to be over before it had hardly begun.

Nick could sense that something was a little off and it took him a moment before he remembered why it was that things with Grissom hadn't worked out for Sara in the end. He hugged her a little closer and whispered in her ear, "Hey, I'm just glad _he_ wasn't the one that got to break the news; I was thinking that was something you and I might want to do ourselves." There was a part of him that wanted to hold onto this little secret of theirs a little while longer, but the more rational part of him realized that since Hodges had apparently not gotten the reaction he'd hoped for from his text message that he'd be on the lookout for something far more concrete to prove that he was indeed telling the truth. They were going to have to steal his thunder and they were going to have to do it rather quickly.

"I'm so glad you said that," Sara closed her eyes and relaxed into his hug for a good long moment; it was only then that she realized they'd been away from the convention center for quite a while and had probably missed the next session; as it was she didn't feel in a particular hurry to get back at all.

Nick relished in the feel of her in his arms like this; to him it felt very indulgent especially considering they were supposed to be attending a conference. He let out a sigh as he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers, "You think we should give Warrick and Greg a call?"

"Do you?" Sara felt a mild panic setting in again; it wasn't that she didn't want them to know, she was just dreading Grissom finding out from someone other than her, but she wasn't sure she was ready to tell him quite yet.

Nick pulled back and quirked an eyebrow at her, "You having second thoughts already?" He wasn't exactly sure what she was thinking; would she actually prefer that Hodges be the one to spill the beans?

"No." Her eyes were wide as she looked at Nick, "I...wouldn't they be sleeping by now?" She didn't really want to mention that it seemed a little awkward to her to make a formal announcement that they were seeing each other.

"Yeah, I guess they would," Nick had lost track of the time, but she was right; even if they'd worked a few extra hours beyond their normal shift this was definitely getting into precious sleep time that they all held at a premium. Now that he was aware of the time, he reasoned that they probably should head back to the convention center even though that was the last place he wanted to be right then. Staying there with Sara was definitely much higher on his list of priorities.

"Nick?" The tone in Sara's voice had a wistful lilt to it and as she found that she had his full attention she decided that she might as well just get to the point, "I think I owe it to Grissom to tell him before he hears it from someone else." She also wanted to make certain that he knew that in her mind at least they were broken up when things had happened with Nick; as it was, he'd probably already caught wind of Hodges' text message and she wanted to do a little damage control so that she didn't lose Grissom's friendship in the fallout.

Somehow, deep down, Nick knew that this was what her hesitation had been about; part of him was shaking in his boots that after a simple phone call with the Bug Man that she'd immediately decide that she'd made a monumental mistake breaking up with him in the first place and Nick would find himself high and dry without the Sara of his dreams. He quelled his inner turmoil and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you're right." If he was in Grissom's shoes he sure as hell would want to hear it from her.

"And once he knows, then you can call Warrick and Greg," Sara knew from some of the things he'd whispered to her in dark last night that he'd been dreaming about being with her for a while and she was well aware how much the guys talked about their lives; they both probably knew to what extent Nick really had a thing for her.

"I can, can I?" Nick was mildly amused and he felt his smile spreading into a grin as he felt her fingers reach up and graze his cheek as she nodded and angled her face towards his.

"Yeah," Sara felt butterflies swirl in her stomach as Nick pressed his lips against hers in a soft sensual kiss. One kiss led to two and then three and after a while she simply lost count. In the back of her mind, she was sure that they should probably head back to the conference at some point, but she couldn't seem to convince herself that it was more important than just sitting there on that bench next to the river making out with Nick.

And for Nick's part, he had completely mentally checked out as far as the conference was concerned; in the back of his mind he was once again cheering himself on that he was definitely _The Man_.

Had either one of them been able to infuse a little rational thought into the situation for a moment or two, one of them _might_ have noticed Hodges and his lady friend Lola strolling along the river headed in their direction. And if they had, they would have seen Hodges fumble for his camera phone when he realized just who he and Lola were approaching.


	16. Chapter 16

Hodges couldn't believe his good fortune and Lola couldn't believe how excited he was to capture his coworkers on film; although she had a pretty good idea how well something like this would go over at his lab as he prepared to send picture mail to everyone in his address book.

Lola quirked an eyebrow at him, "David, do you really think that's such a good idea?" She wasn't sure how workplace romances went over in Vegas, but in Seattle it was an unspoken taboo.

Hodges smile had a smirked edge to it, "This photo helps me win a little wager; no one believed me earlier when I told them Nick and Sara had become an item...I'm just providing a little evidence that David Hodges doesn't lie." Well he might stretch the truth now and then and perhaps even leave out key pieces of information when it suited his purpose, but when it came to anything pertaining to evidence on a case or in this case, him being proved right, he was telling the truth even better than he might in a court of law.

Lola considered that for a moment, maybe things were different in Vegas and if everyone had already been told, maybe it wouldn't really hurt anything, but on the other hand, Nick and Sara seemed very nice when she'd met them and didn't they have a right to a little privacy?

Before she could answer, Hodges asserted himself and his position a little more, "Besides, it's not like some of us haven't seen this coming for a while." He'd always had his suspicions about the pair; taking breaks together and spending far too much time being friendly with each other than he'd ever been with anyone in the lab. There were theories that abounded that Sidle had a thing for Grissom, but he and Grissom were tight and surely he would have gotten the inside scoop if there had been an actual thing.

"Oh?" Lola could see that he was perceptive, and sensitive, and probably the most perfect man she'd ever known.

"Yes, this just gives everyone the opportunity to let it sink in before they get back so they aren't swarmed," Hodges had visions of lab paparazzi and his face adorning the lab newsletter for the gossip scoop of the decade. He let out a laugh with a hint of amusement as he gestured towards Nick and Sara who were still oblivious to the presence of their coworker, "Besides, don't you think it's better everyone find out this way than walking in on them in some layout room in the lab?"

Lola snorted out a laugh, she'd caught a couple of coworkers in just such a position and to say that it had created a buzz was a complete understatement, spilling the beans for them while they were still out of town would be doing them a favor, "Definitely," she glanced over his shoulder at the five pictures he'd taken, "Oh, the second one, definitely the second one."

Hodges grinned at her, how in the world had he been so fortunate to find a woman who thought just like he did? "I was actually going to send them all." As he pushed the few buttons on his phone to send the photo to all of the lab techs, he found the courage to put his arm around Lola, "How would you like to go somewhere that's a little cozier?" He hoped he wasn't pressing his luck, but he'd gotten none of the weird vibes from Lola that he'd gotten from all of the other women he'd ever tried to date; he wasn't going to miss the opportunity if it was there presenting itself to him.

Lola couldn't help but smile, this week was definitely turning out far better than she'd hoped, "Where did you have in mind?" She had a few ideas of her own, but David seemed to be a slow mover; his idea of a cozy place was probably a coffee shop.

"Well I heard about this little place around the corner; we can have a quiet lunch, maybe take ride on the river, and then who knows?" Hodges hoped he sounded like a man who knew what he wanted. Not that he didn't know what he wanted but he didn't always exude confidence around woman as amazing as Lola and who was he really to try and romance her into coming for a visit in Vegas?

"Sounds perfect." Lola was entertaining her own thoughts about where they could go after that; she'd always thought of herself as a slow mover, but compared to David, she was in warp speed and she just needed to get him to close the gap a little.

Neither Nick nor Sara noticed Hodges as they finally came up for air and it was obvious from the smiles adorning their faces that neither one of them was giving any thought to heading back to the conference for the rest of the day. Nick couldn't resist reaching out and trailing his fingers down Sara's cheek, "Feel like seeing a little bit of San Antonio?" He could think of a few other things; ok, one thing specifically he'd like to be doing, but as fit as he was, even he didn't posses the kind of stamina to take things back to one of their hotel rooms for the rest of the day.

Sara smirked at him; she'd really expected that he ask her if she wanted to continue this somewhere else. Maybe that was part of what she liked so much about him; Nick was her friend before he was anything else and he genuinely enjoyed spending time with her. The absolutely mind blowing sex was a complete bonus. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Nick took her hand as he rose from the bench and with their fingers laced together they wandered down the path by the river and headed nowhere in particular. Surely a visit to the Alamo was in order, but he just wanted to spend time with this woman that he'd been fascinated with for years. The fact that she wanted to be with him caused him to puff his chest out just a little bit more.

Sara was glad that they'd been sent to Texas; the conference aside, what had blossomed between her and Nick was as sweet to her as the unexpected beauty after a hard rain in the desert when the cacti would bloom and bring color to an otherwise desolate landscape. She knew that Grissom would be disappointed, maybe even angry over what had happened, but deep down she hoped that he could see that things had truly worked themselves out for the best. He hadn't been able to give her the one thing she truly wanted from him and that was to be loved enough to let the world know about it. Somehow even though Nick hadn't said that he loved her she had no doubt that he didn't want to hide what was between them; wouldn't even conceive of that as being an option in the first place.

They meandered through the Riverwalk area and then over to the Alamo where Nick recounted to Sara everything that he'd learned about it in his Texas state history classes growing up; even expounding on how he'd portrayed Colonel Travis in his second grade history play and how he'd managed to get the lines all wrong and somehow turned the Alamo into a victory against General Santa Ana instead of a well known sacrifice for freedom. He'd never really lived that down and it seemed to come up every time his entire family got together. Sara found the whole story rather endearing and she couldn't help but kiss him as they stood in the middle of one of the mission.

After that they decided to get a bite to eat at a little bistro where Nick told her a little bit more about his childhood and what it was like growing up the youngest of seven with parents who were both in law and how that complicated his life especially as a teenage boy who seemed hell bent on living life in the moment no matter where that took him.

It wasn't until they were walking back to the hotel much later in the day that their cell phones started chirping to let them know that they both had messages waiting. In addition to several voicemail messages for each of them from Warrick wanting to know what the hell was up with the two of them, there was a forwarded picture mail that he'd sent that had originated from Hodges.


	17. Chapter 17

"I did _not_ break up with you just so that I could date Nick." Sara sounded more like she was growling than talking into her cell phone as she perched on the edge of a chair near the window of her hotel room.

"We weren't hiding anything from anybody; there wasn't even anything to hide before we got down here, Rick," Nick was pacing back and forth on the other side of the room from Sara and he was becoming increasingly agitated as he tried to explain how the events in the picture Hodges had sent out had happened in the first place.

"Grissom, I was _not_ seeing him when you were on your damn sabbatical; the two events are exactly that: two separate events," Sara let out a groan and cradled her forehead in the palm of her hand. She knew that he'd immediately make that assumption; for someone who _always_ followed the evidence he could certainly jump to conclusions when something hit him a little too personally.

"_No_, I'm not saying that at all, do you really think that I'd hide it if Sara and I were dating before now?" Nick almost laughed at the ridiculous nature of his question; Warrick Brown of all people should know how long he'd been hung up on Sara. In fact he was taking a certain amount of satisfaction that Warrick's prediction that Sara would always be hung up on Grissom was wrong.

"What can you _not_ see?" Sara looked like she was ready to reach through the phone and flick Gil between his eyes in hopes that she might get through that thick skull of his. She had broken up with him; what she decided to do with her life really wasn't his concern any longer. In fact if they didn't work together he wouldn't know about her and Nick at all.

"Don't even go there...I would never use _Sara_ like that." Nick had to pull the phone away from his ear for a moment. What the hell was Warrick thinking anyway? How could he think that he would _ever_ use Sara and live to tell about it? He wasn't that stupid.

"How could you even _suggest_ something like that?" Sara was hurt, "I didn't come down here intending for this to happen," she glanced over at Nick who was involved in what appeared to be a rather intense conversation with who she assumed was Warrick.

"Well she's _my_ friend too." Nick let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his hand over the top of his head; he was definitely getting a headache. He didn't realize that dating Sara would stir up such a reaction from one of his best friends.

"No, I'm glad it happened...yes, he does know about you and me." Sara felt a pang of sadness at how things had shifted so dramatically between her and Grissom, or maybe it was just that he was finally realizing that her heart had been shifting for a while.

"You know that I would never intentionally hurt her...she means too much to me to do that," Nick felt a smile creeping across his face; Warrick's tone was definitely shifting and he got the feeling that the inquisition was almost over.

"Is that what you're worried about?" Sara felt tears stinging, "You don't have to worry about your damn secret, Gil." This was all too much, "I need to go." She ended the call and tossed her phone onto the table next to the chair she was sitting in and then she glanced over at Nick who although he was clearly trying to defend himself against Warrick's 385,000 questions, he looked proud.

"Now that's something that I'm definitely _not_ telling you," Nick let out a laugh at the thought that now Warrick wanted details. He glanced over and noticed that Sara was off the phone and judging from the expression on her face he realized that her conversation with Grissom apparently had been difficult. He furrowed his brow with concern as she got up from the chair and walked towards him.

She gestured for the phone, offering him a faint smile and soulful eyes; her lips twitched into a sort of smirk as she took the phone from him and put it up to her ear, "Hey, Warrick," a hint of pink infused her cheeks and she did her best to restrain the smile that threatened to take over the smirk, "I'm good...very good in fact," she felt Nick's eyes on her and she glanced up feeling a flip in her stomach as she looked into them, feeling as if she might just get completely lost in their depths.

Nick reached for the phone again smiling broadly as looked at Sara while he addressed Warrick, "Hey, man, I'll talk to you later, alright." He didn't wait for Warrick to respond as he ended the call and he tossed the phone in the general direction of the side table.

"That went better than I thought it would," Sara wasn't convinced it had gone well with Grissom at all, but at least it seemed that Warrick was on their side. She felt Nick's arms slip around her and she leaned into him and let out a sigh.

"Grissom gave you a hard time, didn't he?" Nick felt conflicted. On the one hand, he was glad that Sara hadn't decided she made a mistake, but on the other hand, Grissom was his friend and even though he was apparently relationally challenged, he cared about Sara. The problem was, Nick cared about her too and this was one time he wasn't going to step aside; he'd watched Sara go through the wringer emotionally over the years because of Gil Grissom and he thought she deserved to be treated better than that.

Sara's voice had a hitch to it, "Yeah, he did...he said some things that I guess I hadn't expected to hear from him...he says he cares, but he doesn't get it, Nick. How can you keep someone you're supposed to love a secret from all of the people in your life?" She smiled as she felt him hug her a little bit tighter.

"I know I couldn't," He wasn't ready to come out and say that he loved her; but he certainly wanted her to know that she would never have to worry about him wanting to keep her in the shadows; he wanted everyone to know how lucky he was to have her in his life.

"I know," It was unspoken, but the implication was there and Sara pulled away just enough to tip her head back and look into his eyes, "I'm not sure how I didn't notice what was right in front of me all this time." Nick was unexpected, but was very quickly turning out to be one of the best things that had happened to her in a very long time.

Nick let out a soft chuckle, "It's all in the timing," and for once the timing had worked out perfectly for him and Sara. He had no idea where this thing between them was going to go, but he was certainly in for the ride.

"Well then, I guess you and I have great timing; Hodges on the other hand..." Her words trailed off as a smirk flitted across her face. As much as she was actually relieved that the cat was out of the bag, she really did want a little payback.

"Hodges will get his due...Warrick seems to think he's going to get his ass chewed out by Ecklie for misusing department resources," mischief was dancing in his eyes, "but I don't really feel like talking about Hodges right now."

"Hmm, you don't?" Sara feigned confusion, but she couldn't quite keep from smiling because she was thinking the very same thing.

Nick shook his head, "No, not when it's just you and me with three days left until we have to head back to Vegas." With that he leaned in and softly kissed her; letting himself just get lost in the sensation of Sara, smiling as he felt her eagerly return his kiss as they tumbled back onto the bed.


	18. Chapter 18

Those last three days in San Antonio went by in a complete blur attending the remaining conference sessions, trying to avoid Hodges and his camera phone, and getting together one last time with Carly, Pete, and Ben for dinner before it was all over. Three days might have seemed short in San Antonio, but as they flew back to Las Vegas, they wondered if it was long enough for things to have settled down after the proverbial shit had hit the fan thanks to Hodges. With a brief layover in Phoenix, they arrived in Las Vegas with just enough time to catch some sleep before reporting to the lab for shift that night.

"I can't say that I've ever dreaded going to work a day in my life," Sara's nerves were palpable as they waited to collect their luggage. She didn't know how the revelation of their newly romantic relationship was going to sit with Grissom with it playing out right in front of him; and given that he was their supervisor he certainly had it within his power to separate them on cases or even request that one of them transfer to the dayshift. She hoped that he'd remain as professional about her and Nick working together as he had been about them working together when they'd been seeing each other. Despite the fact that she and Nick had crossed a line she had no doubt that they could maintain a professional demeanor while working a case together.

"Well we just need to face it head on and take whatever comes," Nick felt like he was waxing a bit philosophical in an effort to calm his own nerves. He wasn't about to shrink back from things, but he was definitely concerned about how this was going to affect their careers. Deep down, he was more concerned about facing Grissom than he was about facing Ecklie and whatever bureaucratic crap he might throw their way for fraternizing; especially while on a department sponsored outing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sara appreciated his optimism, but right now she thought a bit more realism might be more appropriate. They hadn't really discussed the details of where this relationship was going; it was brand new and she wasn't sure she wanted to lose her career over him. She was definitely starting to feel overwhelmed.

Nick could tell that she was worried about the outfall from their relationship being made public and he could appreciate that, but her being worried wasn't going to change what they were going to face when they got to the lab. He let out a sigh and furrowed his brow as set down the bag he retrieved off of the baggage carousel, "Do you want to turn back time?" He didn't think she regretted what they started in San Antonio, but there was a sliver of doubt that was beginning to sneak in as they gathered the last of their bags.

His words caught her a little off guard, "Do you?" Surely they wouldn't get to this point just for him to start having second thoughts. Sara felt a sudden flash of panic as she realized she really did want this; no matter what it did to her career.

Nick didn't miss a beat, "No, I don't." He shook his head to emphasize his point as he looked at her earnestly, "I _want_ to be with you, Sara; I've wanted to be with you for a while now...if that means that I'm pulling decomps and trick rolls for the next six months because Grissom is pissed at me for being with you, then I'm prepared for that." He certainly hoped that it wouldn't come to that, but he had decided to prepare himself for the worst and hope for the best.

The relief was visible as it washed over Sara's face and there was a hint of emotion in her voice as she spoke, "I'm sorry, Nick, I want to be with you too...I'm just concerned about what's going to happen...no one seemed to be very supportive over the phone and I..." her words trailed off; she really didn't need to say anything else because he knew what she meant. She just didn't know what they were going to be walking into when they got to work, and she didn't relish being uncomfortable in a place that had served as a sort of second home for the last several years.

Nick's hands came to rest on her shoulders as he looked into her eyes oblivious to the other people around them trying to claim their luggage off of the carousel, "Hey, this is between you and me; not Warrick, Catherine, Greg, Ecklie, or even Grissom...you and me." He knew that this whole venture had been risky from the start, but somehow in San Antonio it had seemed far easier to let down the walls and just see where things led. Now that they were back in Vegas it was time to test this fledgling relationship and it seemed that they were both a little scared that it might not be ready to fly.

She knew that he was right, but she also knew how hard it could be dating a coworker and with her experience with Grissom fresh in her mind it was difficult to think that this would turn out differently, but he wasn't Grissom, they weren't keeping this a secret and she had to remind herself that she wanted this as much as he did. "I know, I do...I just..." Her words seemed to fail her and she simply leaned in and kissed him; she had faith in this, she did and so she needed to hold onto that no matter what the nerves swirling around in her stomach were trying to suck her into.

Nick enveloped her as he kissed her back and he knew that no matter what anyone else thought about his relationship with Sara that he would go to hell and back to protect it. As they pulled apart a moment later, he smiled at her softly, "Let's get out of here and go home, ok?" He was tired and maybe a little hungry and they had to work in a fewer hours than he'd like and all he wanted right now was to hold onto Sara as he drifted off to sleep one last time before they had to go and face the real world.

"Home sounds good," She wasn't really sure if he meant his home or her home, but she didn't really care; somehow she knew that he just wanted to be with her for a while longer without the prying eyes of David Hodges and his camera phone or anyone else at the lab around. There would be plenty of things to deal with when they walked through the doors of the Crime Lab; for now she just wanted to be with Nick.

A short time later as they pulled into Nick's driveway alongside the car that Sara had left there when she'd caught a ride with him to the airport, they both realized just how much had changed since they'd been there last. Nick glanced over at her; the wistful look in his eyes not lost on her as he turned off the ignition, "You want to stay?"

Sara felt a fluttering sensation deep in the pit of her stomach and she felt a faint blush coloring her cheeks, "Yeah." Why she felt nervous now after everything that had transpired in Texas she wasn't sure; but maybe now it just felt a bit more real. She had been to Nick's more times than she could count, but this was the first time she'd been there like this and it just felt a bit strange; good, but strange nevertheless.

"Good," Nick couldn't contain his grin and as he helped unload the bags and haul them into the house he almost felt the need to pinch himself that this all hadn't just been a dream. He was a bit surprised that he wasn't more nervous having her stay there with him, but it just felt right; natural, and so with a smile on his face he was lulled to sleep by the steady rise and fall of Sara's breathing as she lay snuggled next to him underneath the comforter.


	19. Chapter 19

Walking into the Las Vegas Crime Lab that night was eerily calm; it was if no one had even heard that Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle had become some sort of item while attending the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Science in San Antonio the previous week. If they hadn't seen the picture that Hodges had sent via picture mail to all of the lab techs with their own eyes and talked with half the night shift CSIs on the phone trying to explain themselves while they were in Texas they might have wondered if it had all been a dream. Nick and Sara exchanged an odd expression as they walked into the locker room to get ready for shift; neither one of had expected this – an interrogation maybe, a full on scene or maybe being called on the carpet right into Ecklie's office to be suspended, but certainly not as if it was just another day and it was perfectly normal for them to be dating.

"Ok, that was weird," Sara remarked as she clipped her ID badge to her belt. At the very least, she expected that Wendy or Archie would offer a thumbs up or a curiously raised brow. She didn't particularly like being the topic of secret conversations, but she'd been prepared for it.

"Yeah, makes you feel like we've stepped into the Twilight Zone or something." Nick agreed; the sound of footsteps approaching the locker room caused him to glance towards the door wondering if this was going to be it.

A lazy smirk spread across the face of Warrick Brown; his green eyes holding the smile that didn't quite reach the edges of his mouth. "Welcome back; maybe I won't have to pull a double shift." It hadn't been especially busy while they'd been gone, but he always liked to give his colleagues a bad time when they'd been fortunate enough to be away from work for any length of time; whether it was work related or not like this conference had been. He knew well enough that they'd made the most of their time in Texas and it could definitely count as a romantic getaway, even if it hadn't started out that way.

Sara's brow was slightly furrowed and her lips pursed slightly, "What's with everyone?" Not that she was going to go out of her way to have someone give her the third degree about Nick, but the anticipation of it was killing her; were they going to ambush them when Grissom handed out assignments?

"Yeah, she's got a point, man; I mean you know that nothing around here stays a secret for very long," Nick was starting to feel a little jumpy; he was going to have to see Grissom face to face very soon and he wasn't sure exactly how to prepare for dealing with him and the repercussions of dating Sara.

Warrick let out a low easy chuckle, "Nothing to tell; once the news got out Hodges' style Ecklie made it clear that he didn't want it disrupting things." He could tell that his two friends were nervous. Truth was, Ecklie seemed far more upset about the unprofessional behavior of David Hodges than he was learning that two of the nightshift's finest were seeing each other.

"Ecklie?" Sara knew that Conrad Ecklie wasn't her biggest fan and she couldn't help wonder what he was going to say about all of this. He could make her professional life miserable if he wanted to; in fact she knew that if he'd had his druthers, she would have lost her job a long time ago. Only Grissom's understanding of her situation and his intervention had saved that and now in retrospect she realized that she wished she'd been forced to go to some sort of counselor years ago to deal with the ghosts of her past.

Nick was mentally calculating just how long he'd be suspended and how he was going to keep Sara from going for Ecklie's throat after he said the wrong thing and set her off. "So in other words he's gonna have our asses served up." There was a slight edge of panic in Nick's voice that was quickly replaced by a bit of a growl, "Well Ecklie can kiss _my _ass...whatever he's got to dish out is worth it if it means I get to be with Sara."

Warrick smirked, "You've got nothing to worry about...Ecklie didn't seem to have a problem with it...Hodges on the other hand can count on getting his ass served up." Sometimes payback came in the most interesting ways. Rumor had it that Hodges was going to be written up and suspended; but then he'd believe that when he saw it. Once things had sort of blown over, Ecklie had made it clear he didn't want it coming up again that someone was using department resources to pull pranks. It seemed like there was a veiled sort of threat that hung in the air around the lab techs in the aftermath; Warrick felt a little sorry for them; but the reality was, this was a crime lab and there was a backlog of cases that would keep them all gainfully employed until retirement.

Nick looked a bit doubtful, "You're kidding." This just didn't feel quite right; it would have been a completely normal reaction for Ecklie to haul him and Sara right into his office and explain exactly what sort of disciplinary action he was going to take against them.

"It's not strictly against policy, Nick," Sara knew full well that the only restriction spelled out in the employee handbook was that a supervisor and a subordinate couldn't become romantically involved because of the potential for a sexual harassment suit against the City of Las Vegas. That had been the primary reason that Grissom had insisted that they had to keep their relationship a secret. Part of her wondered if the reason Ecklie didn't fly off the handle was that he and the Sheriff were both relieved that it hadn't been Grissom she'd hooked up with in San Antonio; she wondered what they'd say if they knew that it had been happening right under their noses for a while and they'd never noticed.

"Well it may not be against policy, but I'm sure he isn't exactly thrilled with it, Sar." Nick could tell that she was just as relieved as he was that this was going to just blow on over with the powers that be and they could just allow their relationship to unfold at its own pace without being the subject of speculation and inquiry from the top all the way down to the bottom of the lab hierarchy.

"Are you looking to get written up?" Warrick was mildly amused that they didn't seem to be able to wrap their minds around the fact that Ecklie didn't have a problem with them seeing each other; he'd probably give them some spiel about maintaining a high level of professionalism while on the job and not allowing their romance or any ensuing disagreements about that relationship to spill over into the lab, but he really wasn't the one that they needed to worry about.

"No, definitely not." Nick replied without missing a beat. A grin stole over his face as he regarded Sara and he could see that reality was starting to seep into her as well as the corners of her mouth turned upwards.

"No, we're good." Sara glanced over at Warrick and she felt a certain measure of relief that he seemed to be on their side; or at least supportive of them because they were both his friends.

"Alright, then I say you two get the first decomp of the night." There was a certain spark in Warrick's eye as he turned and headed towards the break room where he knew the rest of the crew was already gathering; he hoped that tonight went better than the previous shift and that seeing Nick and Sara together wouldn't put Grissom in a worse mood than he'd been in since the picture mail had arrived on the first lab cell phone.


	20. Chapter 20

There was a mixture of sadness and hurt in Grissom's eyes which Sara immediately noticed as she and Nick followed Warrick into the break room where everyone else had already gathered. Catherine had an expression that reflected confusion and maybe even a little irritation at the turn of events; she'd expressed on a number of occasions that she didn't think that fishing off the company pier was a good idea and now she seemed wary of how this little romance was going to play out in the middle of their team. Only Greg seemed glad to see them and didn't seem to be put off by their relationship other than to offer his own sentiments that perhaps he was the better man. One pointed glance from Grissom silenced him.

Shift assignments were given out and Sara was grateful that she had been assigned to work on a case with Warrick; at the very least that would buy her a little time before she needed to have a face to face conversation with Grissom to sort out why she'd broken things off with him in the first place. She had honestly thought that he'd understood that she was breaking up with him, not just telling him that she needed a little space and that they were going to work things out when she got back from Texas. Apparently, he hadn't picked up on that and so instead he was reverting back to classic Grissom behavior and shutting himself up inside of a protective shell and hoping that it would all just pass on by like a bad storm. She owed him an explanation, but she wasn't sure he was even going to be willing to talk to her about it all since he questioned whether she'd been faithful to him while he'd been on his sabbatical.

If Nick thought he could coast through the shift without having to deal with Grissom, he was sadly mistaken when it became obvious by way of the process of elimination that since he wasn't being given a solo case that he was going to be working with the Bugman himself. The last time he'd been in a situation where he felt his insides were going to make their way outside like this while working a case with Grissom was when he'd let his tongue get the best of him and he'd mentioned 'murder central' to a former college baseball teammate and it had ended up on the evening news. To say that he was nervous about it was an understatement. Sara had filled him in on the conversation she'd had with Grissom on the phone while they were still in San Antonio and he'd gotten the impression that he was less than thrilled with how things had turned out especially since Nick knew about the secret relationship. Now he wondered just how long it would take Grissom to get to the point while they worked the case.

Grissom was silent outside of the perfunctory way he shared what few details of their case he knew as he let Nick drive to the crime scene. Grissom seemed distracted; in a rather un-Grissom-like manner and it was then that Nick realized that the Bugman truly did love Sara; only his relational awkwardness had probably cost him the one woman who could have understood and looked past that if he'd just been willing to go public. It wasn't until they were pulling into the crime scene that Grissom addressed the elephant in the Denali.

"I love her so you'll forgive me if I don't quite understand what's happened here." Grissom seemed thrown off center and as he glanced over at Nick it seemed as if he truly wanted someone to explain it to him.

Nerves swirled in the pit of Nick's stomach, "You're going to have to talk to Sara about it, Gris; I can't speak for her." He knew for a fact that if he spoke for her, Sara would be pissed. He had ideas of where he wanted this relationship to go, but he wanted it to unfurl itself; he didn't want to force it. He hoped that his response didn't sound like a cop out.

"She said she just wanted a break...I didn't think she was breaking up with me," Grissom clenched his jaw as he realized he needed to pull it together and work a crime scene. Why he felt compelled to talk to Nick of all people about this he wasn't sure; other than the fact that Nick already knew about the relationship he'd had with Sara; something no one else he trusted did.

Nick felt truly sorry for Gil Grissom, but that didn't mean he wanted him to get Sara back; he felt like his own heart was already in too deep to get out without being completely crushed; and he didn't want out at all. "Grissom, if you don't mind me saying so, I think your biggest mistake was keeping things between you a secret."

Grissom had considered that on more than one occasion and he nodded, letting out a sigh of frustration, "Ecklie told me in no uncertain terms that if he ever found out that I was seeing Sara romantically that he would make sure her career in Las Vegas was ended permanently, I could handle the demise of my own career over her, but there was no way I would do that to her...she's too brilliant of a criminalist for that to happen to her. Especially at the hands of Conrad Ecklie."

"But that was Sara's decision to make, not yours...I don't think you gave her enough credit for knowing what she was getting herself into." Nick almost wished that he could duplicate Sara so that they could both be with her; but fate didn't always deal a fair hand to everyone in this game called life. And so for now it seemed, he'd ended up with the better hand and as much as he felt for Grissom, it didn't mean he was willing to give up Sara.

Grissom's brow was furrowed as he regarded his younger colleague, "You may be right," his eyes looked measurably sadder as he continued, "after Hodges sent that picture of you and Sara, Ecklie made a point to tell me that he was glad that he wasn't going to have to clean up my mess after all...I think maybe he knew about Sara and I, but I can't be sure."

This man was Nick's mentor, his friend, and a sort of father figure; he felt conflicted even as his heart went out to him, "For what it's worth, Gris, I'm really sorry." This whole conversation felt a little strange, but he'd had more than his fair share of conversations with Grissom over the years that could fall into the strange category.

"I really thought she loved me too." Grissom seemed genuinely hurt.

"I don't doubt that she did." Nick couldn't be sure that Sara didn't still love Grissom; he only knew that she cared for him and seemed to want to be with him more than she wanted Grissom. That didn't necessarily equate to love, but perhaps the potential was there and that was all he could hope for at this point.

"Promise me that you'll treat her right." Grissom looked pained; he didn't want to give up Sara, but it seemed he didn't have much choice. He didn't want Sara to be with Nick, but he couldn't deny that Nick was a good man; the job and all the hell he'd experienced had grown him up into a man that didn't seem to be as distracted by all the trappings of the world the way he used to. Sara could do worse, a lot worse than Nick, but she'd be hard pressed to do much better.

"I'd never think of doing anything otherwise." Nick wasn't sure if Grissom was offering some sort of permission for him to date Sara; he certainly didn't need it, but he appreciated that he seemed to be conceding what fate had in store. And at least right now, fate had decided that he had Sara Sidle's heart.

A tap at the window of the SUV startled them both and the sardonic smirk of Jim Brass seemed to question what the hell they were doing sitting there when a perfectly good crime scene was waiting to be processed.


	21. Chapter 21

David Hodges certainly hadn't expected for things to turn out the way they did. He'd been sure that he'd be hailed as king of the lab geeks for his prowess in squirreling out information as illusive as Jimmy Hoffa's treasure, but just like Geraldo Herrera, he'd been summarily humiliated. Clearly Conrad Ecklie didn't value evidence of Sara Sidle in a romantic relationship with a colleague unless it was with Gil Grissom; he had made it clear that he didn't care one iota if she dated Nick Stokes. Nick Stokes was a standup guy that had survived being buried alive; everyone like Nick, and unlike Grissom, Nick wasn't a supervisor so it wasn't even against official department policy.

Hodges wasn't sure that his two-day suspension was really in line with department policy because he had certainly sent Conrad picture mail before; but perhaps because it wasn't Grissom he'd caught Sara with he was taking his frustration out on the trace analyst. Apparently the deal they'd struck about getting evidence of Sara being involved only received a reward if it was professionally incriminating against Grissom.

Not that he really minded the suspension really; he had that much more time with Lola since she'd decided to come back to Vegas with him for the rest of her vacation. Things had sort of combusted between them while they were in San Antonio and now his little love kitten was considering trying to find a job somewhere close to Vegas so they could see each other on a regular basis. He wasn't sure he should push his luck with Conrad and see about a job in the lab for his honey pie, but he was seriously considering it. Who knew that even he could find a woman that would make him this happy?

* * *

Sara was sifting through evidence that she and Warrick had collected at their crime scene; he was off chasing down a few leads with Brass and it suited her just fine to concentrate on the field of debris before her on the layout table. She almost didn't hear Catherine when she came into the room. 

"So, you and Nick, huh?" Catherine was clearly fishing; she and Sara weren't particularly close. They were both extremely opinionated, were great criminalists, and probably didn't always make the best choices when it came to men. Well, perhaps Catherine had underestimated Sara in this area; she thought her coworker would always be fixated on Grissom; she even thought at one time maybe something might be going on between them, but she'd never envisioned Nick and Sara together. The pair were complete opposites, but then maybe that was part of the attraction.

Sara wasn't sure she was in the mood for this; she knew better than to dive right in when Catherine was concerned, it was always better if she tread lightly until she knew what it was she was really after. But she also didn't want to stir things up if it was simple curiosity that Catherine was trying to satisfy. She glanced up and offered Catherine a sort of smile, "It's all over the lab so I'm sure you're not really surprised."

Catherine bit her words and took a mental step back; clearly Sara anticipated a conversation with an overtone of an interrogation. She decided that she might as well just cut right to the chase, "Somehow I always got the impression you were interested in Grissom." Not that Gil had ever admitted either way how he felt about Sara, he didn't really have to. Whether he'd ever get his head out of his microscope long enough to do anything about it was really the question.

Sara let out a sigh and sized up Catherine; it had already been a long shift and she'd been grilled by Warrick all the way to the crime scene and back and Detective Vartan had offered his opinion of the development as well, "I'm pretty clear about how you feel about 'fishing off the company pier', Cat." She'd always taken the subtle hint that Catherine didn't approve of Sara's interest in Grissom, and she was sure that she'd be even less thrilled about the reality of her relationship with Nick.

Catherine paused for a long moment before she took a step towards the layout table and offered Sara a smile that she hoped was a peace offering, "That's just been my experience." There was a lot about her life that her coworkers didn't know even if they thought she was pretty much an open book.

Sara quirked a single eyebrow at her, "Your observation, or your experience?" she had always wondered if her hard line stance about office romances was because she'd been burned herself.

"My experience," Catherine didn't particularly feel like dishing the details of her failed attempt at a romance that almost no one even knew about, but she didn't want to drive a wedge further between her and Sara because she was being interpreted as being judgmental.

"Grissom?" That was a question that had always been lingering in the back of Sara's mind; was there more between them than a long term friendship? The logical part of her brain screamed that it just wasn't possible, not because of Catherine, but because of Grissom.

"Oh, good God, no," Catherine almost burst out laughing at the suggestion that she and Gil could ever get serious enough to take that kind of step. They were good friends, although at times, she almost felt like his parent.

Her response made Sara crack a smile, "Good, I think I'd worry about you if you had." The mood was definitely lightening up a little and for the first time since Catherine had walked in she thought maybe she wasn't her to preach at her after all.

"Look, Sara, I'm not as much of a hard ass about workplace relationships as you might think I am...I just have seldom seem them end well." Catherine hoped that Nick and Sara would be as happy as they seemed to right now in another six months. Neither one of them had a particularly great track record with relationships.

"So you're assuming that Nick and I are going to break up then," Sara could see it as a valid concern; she had thought about that herself while they were still in San Antonio, but it was a risk she was willing to take. She'd taken that same risk with Grissom and things hadn't worked out, no one other than Nick even knew about that failed relationship so she was sure that if things with Nick didn't work out that they'd still manage to be friends.

"I didn't say that," Catherine could see that Sara wasn't taking all of this lightly. "But I'm pretty sure the two of you aren't going to run out and get married either." At least she hoped that wasn't the case.

Sara let out a chuckle, "Nick and I don't have any plans for a drive through wedding." She could understand her coworkers concern, but it really was unfounded. Her expression became a little bit more serious, "Look, Cat, I care about him, he cares about me and we just want to see where it's going to go, ok?"

Catherine arched a brow, "You guys are part of a team; what happens between you affects all of us. I'm not against it, I'm just a little wary I guess."

"I can appreciate that," Sara and Nick had talked at length about how they were going to deal with work and a romance and they'd even anticipated that not everyone would be thrilled with the idea. "But we're professionals who value our careers; we're not going to do anything to jeopardize them."

Catherine knew that it was true, Sara lived and breathed her job, and the fact that she'd managed to find a sliver of sunshine with someone else that saw the same hell she did day in and day out was nothing short of a miracle really. She felt herself softening a bit, "I really do hope that things between you and Nicky last for a really long time," She'd given up on a lifetime love a long time ago, right around the same time that Eddie had first cheated on her.

Sara felt the corners of her mouth twitch upwards into a genuine smile at Catherine's confession, "Thank you; I hope they do to."


	22. Chapter 22

Sara was worn out both emotionally and physically by the end of shift and the last thing she really wanted to do was meet Grissom for breakfast to talk about what had gone wrong between them and where they stood now that she and Nick were seeing each other. She pulled into the parking lot of an out of the way café that she and Grissom had frequented while they were dating and just sat there for a few minutes as she considered how everything had come to this. She had been so sure that she wanted nothing more than to be with Grissom for so long that when it actually happened she was willing to make compromises to be with him that she wouldn't have put up with to be with anyone else. She had lost herself in the middle of it all and the saddest part was that Grissom didn't seem to understand why she'd broken up with him. She realized that she owed him the honesty that she hadn't given him from the very beginning; something that if she'd had the courage to take the risk to do in the first place, things might have worked out very differently. She let out a deep sigh as she grabbed her purse and slipped out of the car and headed towards the café where she knew that Grissom was already waiting for her in a corner booth towards the back.

Grissom glanced up and smiled as she approached the table and then slipped in next to him like she had so many times over the last year. His heart flipped a little and then sunk as he realized she wasn't going to lean in and kiss him like she had nearly every other time they'd been here. He had to remind himself that her heart didn't belong to him any longer; she taken it back and then had given it to Nick. He tried to quell the emotion that filled his throat as he greeted her, "I'm glad you came." He'd wondered if she was having second thoughts about talking to him at all.

"Me too," Her expression was soft, but reserved as a feeling of sadness mixed with relief washed over her at how things had turned out. She hoped that at the end of their conversation that he would still be her friend; he'd been one of the first people that she'd trusted enough to share what had happened to her family and how that had influenced her career; what drove her really. It was that passion for justice that had ignited a spark between them, but it seemed that it hadn't been enough.

The quickly ordered and settled in over coffee; Grissom was the first one to just jump right into the conversation, "I need to apologize to you, Sara." Grissom looked conflicted; he had said things in the heat of his anger that he'd never intended to vocalize, at least the way he'd done it over the phone. "I essentially accused you of cheating on me...that wasn't fair...I know you better than that." He looked at her hoping that she'd forgive him and hoping beyond hope that maybe this really wasn't the end for them.

Sara leaned back and glanced over at him, her brow was furrowed, "Yes, you do know me better than that." She looked into his eyes and found a kindness there she hadn't really expected under the circumstances and she found herself softening a little. "Look, I know that you aren't really sure how all of this happened; I'm not sure I really know how it all happened," she took a deep breath and continued, "but Grissom, I would never have cheated on you. The reason I broke up with you was because of you and me; what I thought was going to work didn't." Grissom looked like he was going to protest, but she held up her hand to let him know that she wanted to finish, "The arrangement we had worked for you but it didn't work for me, and in retrospect I think I knew that it wouldn't, but I wanted to be with you so much that I think I would have agreed to anything to make it happen and I wasn't true to myself."

Grissom carefully considered her words; he'd never really thought about doing their relationship any differently than they had. He could have lost his entire career if they'd gone public, and she most certainly would have lost hers in Vegas because Conrad Ecklie had made that abundantly clear. Nick's words to him earlier resounded in his mind and he realized that the younger man had been right. Grissom furrowed his brow, "It wasn't fair of me to ask you to agree to something like that," regret was evident in his voice as he continued, "I should have let you make you decision based on all of the evidence, not just what I thought you needed to know."

Sara looked confused, "I'm not sure what you mean."

Grissom knew that she wasn't going to be pleased by what he had to say, "One of the reasons I asked you to agree to seeing each other in secret was because of Ecklie...he told me that if things between you and I ever became romantic in nature that he'd make sure you no longer had a career here in Vegas."

As the words registered in Sara's mind, she was ticked, "You let Ecklie get between us? Did you even consider that if it came down to that kind of ultimatum that I would have gladly left the lab and found a university job?" This was just one more thing that underscored why things between them hadn't worked out; they had both been so afraid of something coming between and ruining their relationship that neither one of them had truly come into it honestly.

"No, I didn't consider that, I made a mistake...and I'm sorry, Sara, I really am sorry." Grissom had never had much success with relationships; Sara had been a bright exception. Now it seemed that he'd been wrong about them as well, or at least hadn't realized that there was far more to being with a woman than what he'd put into their relationship.

Sara could see how it all had happened and as the waitress stopped to deliver their food they fell into an easy silence until they were alone again; she glanced over at Grissom, "I haven't stopped caring about you; but I'm not in love with you...I think that we both wanted something that didn't quite end up being what we thought it would be."

"I still love you, Sara," Grissom felt his heart tearing because he knew that he'd lost her.

"Sometimes love isn't enough...we weren't honest with each other...we weren't honest with the rest of the people in our lives either. How can we build a life together on that?" Sara smiled softly at him, "I don't regret being with you...I don't, but it's not what I want anymore." A comfortable silence fell over them as they began to eat.

Grissom had a resigned smile on his face, he had Sara as his friend, he was sure of that and maybe she was right; maybe things between them had been set up to fail from the start, but if that was the case then why did his heart hurt so much? As he finished off his meal, he glanced over at Sara, "Nick's a good man."

The edges of Sara's mouth twitched upwards into a smile as she glanced over at Grissom, "I know he is." She wasn't sure where this romance between her and Nick Stokes was going to go; it had snuck up on them unexpectedly, but had awakened something within her that she hadn't realized was there in the first place and more than anything, she wanted to see where it was going to take them.


	23. Chapter 23

**One Year Later:**

The vocal talents of the Temptations blared out of the stereo in the living room and Nick crooned along in the kitchen as he did the dishes, "I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May." With a little hip shimmy here and a well placed tush push there, he seemed to be intent on outdoing the Temptations as he placed the last plate in the dishwasher. "Well, I guess you'll say, what can make me feel this way? My girl, my girl, my girl...Talkin' 'bout my girl. My girl. Ooooh, hooooo."

Sara wasn't sure what she found more endearing; Nick looking utterly ridiculous dancing along with the Motown sound or the fact that he was doing it in nothing but a pair of boxers emblazoned with the phrase 'Don't Mess With Texas'. Either way, she had a rather lovely view from where she stood taking it all in from the doorway into the kitchen.

It wasn't until Nick did a spin that he noticed her standing there watching him. A slightly embarrassed grin spread across his face, "Just how long have you been standing there?" Not that he minded having her ogle him, but he preferred to have the opportunity to return the favor at the same time.

"Long enough," Sara couldn't help the smirk that pulled at the edges of her mouth as she noticed that dishes hadn't been the only thing he'd been cleaning, "Looks like you've had a busy night off." She gestured towards the living room which was definitely much neater than it had been when she'd left for work.

Nick looked a little mischievous, "Well, I thought maybe you might want to do something other than housework when you got off work." She had been saying for days that they needed to just take a few hours and clean the house; their schedules had been so crazy lately that they hadn't really had the time. So Nick had taken advantage of his night off and done it himself so that maybe they might just have a little time for something else that in his mind at least that there hadn't been nearly enough time for lately.

Sara tried to restrain her smile as she called his bluff, "Oh, I was actually really looking forward to a little housework; you know, it's a great workout and really helps you sleep really well afterwards." She was losing the battle of the straight face as first one side of her mouth and then the other twitched into a smile.

Nick snorted out a laugh, "You are such a terrible liar," he knew that she was a neat freak only because she knew far more about bacteria and microbes than the average person; she did it out of necessity, not because she particularly enjoyed it.

Sara ignored his implication and stepped towards him admiring his well delineated chest, "So do you spend all of your nights off dressed like this?" Maybe next time she could try and convince Grissom to schedule her and Nick for the same night off and they could do housework together, or she could just watch Nick do the housework.

"Only when I'm expecting you to come home," Nick waggled his eyebrows at her and slipped his arms around her waist. He couldn't help becoming a romantic sap around her. They'd been married for nearly two months now and he was almost more excited about being with her now than he had when they'd first started dating.

A grin spread across Sara's face, "Well, then," her voice had a slightly sultry tone to it, "I could get used to a reception like this." She felt a flutter in her stomach as Nick leaned in and kissed her; yes, this was much better than doing housework. In the back of her mind, as they continued kissing, she noticed that the Temptations had given way to Marvin Gaye and that Nick had managed to maneuver them over towards the sectional sofa.

Nick mumbled against her lips as he pulled her with him onto the couch, "You're a little overdressed for what I've got in mind, darlin'." They'd both pulled a couple of double shifts in the last week and by the time they'd gotten home all they'd had the energy for was a bowl of cereal and sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about her all night long and so he'd channeled his energy into the housework hoping that she might be in the mood for a little lovin' when she did get home.

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Sara knew exactly what he ultimately had in mind, but generally they usually headed straight for the bedroom. The detour to the couch was a new thing; not that she didn't have a sense of adventure but the couch had only been delivered last weekend.

"Naked movie night," Nick trailed kisses against her throat as his fingers fumbled with the buttons on her blouse, "We get naked and watch movies." He seemed entirely pleased with himself for thinking that one up all on his own. Of course he was sure that if the movie got boring they could certainly keep themselves entertained, at the rate they were currently going, they might never get to the movie; the strains of Barry White coming out of the stereo singing 'Let's Get It On', seemed to almost ensure it.

"I like naked Nicky night better," Sara whispered against his mouth as her lips found his again. The way that man could kiss there was no way she was going to pay attention to a movie. She had never met anyone quite like Nick Stokes; it had taken her nearly seven years and a trip to San Antonio to figure out that the man of her dreams had been under her nose all along, and for that she would always remember the Alamo.

_**The End**_


End file.
